Collar tabs on Camo uniforms

[Ripper]

Santa was very good to me this year. I got another M44 dot uniform, mouse grey parka and an awesome Oak-B 'fall' uniform.
The M44 dots will be sporting only the sleeve eagle and shoulder straps are removed to match 90% of the pictures I see in the books. The Oak-B uniform predates the M44's issue and was made with factory eagles and shoulder straps. Since these uniforms were somewhat rare or saw limited use, I'm considering putting the collar tabs on them to give them more of a 'field made'' look.
Any suggestions for the guys that have them? I have them pinned in place and they look damn good on that orangeish brown pattern. ;D

[Gordak]

Early 44 dot jackets came with loops for shoulder boards, and no sleeve eagle, late ones came with the boards removed and a sleeve eagle attached.

You’re really not supposed to put any other insignia on that uniform unless you’re an officer and want to wear the special rank insignia.

I am aware that the west point museum has that fully decked out 44 dot jacket, but that was Extremely rare, who knows what the story behind it was.


I wouldn’t do it. Historically you are supposed to have your wool uniform right underneath, so it would be totally redundant.

-Gordak

[Ripper]

Excellent. I'll leave them off and go for a bit more realism.
thanks.

[gadge]

I wish more people would

Generally airsofters seem obsessed with blinging them up

[Capt. Zak]

I wish more airsofters would just stay away from camo all together. Feldgrau is the way to go! ;D

[Ripper]

If wool didn't make me break out in hives, I'd agree with you. ;D
I bought a couple of the feldgray 'canvas' tropical uniforms for just that reason, but they were apparently Heer only and that doesn't help me out much. They look good at 30 feet on the airsoft field though, so I hung onto them.

[Lev]

captzak said:

I wish more airsofters would just stay away from camo all together. Feldgrau is the way to go! ;D

Amen!

[binarypunisher]

gadge said:

I wish more people would

Generally airsofters seem obsessed with blinging them up

Same thing with reenactors too..I have heard it called the "Christmas tree" effect.

[Ripper]

Well, my spiffy new Oak-B uniform is sporting the shoulder boards, a sleeve eagle and nothing else. ;D The M44 HBT's are adorned with just the eagle. I'm not all that impressed with shiney bits and baubles.

[Russian]

I thought the camo tunics were private purchase/private production items? Maybe I'm thinking of something else...

[flectarn]

Not dot 44....

[Russian]

Yea, didn't mean dot 44. But I believe the camo tunics that arena dot 44 were privately tailored, usually for officers. I could be wrong though. A more authoritative figure on the subject?

[Ripper]

According to my Michael Beaver books, camoflage HBT's were produced from surplus Oak-A, Oak-B and Blurred edge materials just before the Dot 44's went into full production. The majority were done in the 'fall' pattern but a limited run was done in spring coloration. The books have a few pictures of soldiers wearing them in the summer of 44 around Normandy.

[valtteri]

Kamouflage.net says that during the starting of the Dot44 uniform production they also used up all remaining earlier camo fabrics. So starting early '44, earlier camos sewed up to M43 uniform cut would not be officer-only stuff, but actually standard issue, perhaps even "lower quality".

Also mentions that the Dot44 replaced both field camo blouse and HBT training uniform would suggest that HBT stuff was not Heer only. I'm no expert here though.

[ukkolziasd]

It could be entirely possible to use a Feldgrau HBT uniform with SS-insignia. Who knows where you got it? During the war many things happened that, accroding to some people, "did not happen", like SS using Heer tunics (of course with SS insignia). Things like supply shortages are probably well involved in these cases.

To add something to Valtteri's post:
The SS probably used every bit and piece of camo material they could, and this might have resulted in uniforms with various camo patterns used in many parts of the same uniform (hehe, kinda like the Finnish Army M/62 uniform which could have many different shades and even two fabric types in the same suit). And this could have resulted in every imaginable scenario regarding camo types. I bet they were also in a hurry, and this is usually the point where looks become less important, as long as the finished product works in its intended role. Though I still haven't seen any jackets with, say, sleeves and torso having different camo patterns...but you never know?

[Ripper]

The Beaver books show several examples of camo smocks and panzer combi's that have mismatched patterns. Mostly oak varients mixed with plane tree varients, but the camo pattern M43 uniforms shown were all of the same pattern. Not neccesarily the same type of cloth, but the patterns matched.
Since it gets ungawdly hot here in the K.C. area during the summer, I have both a reed green HBT and a Heer style M42 'tropical' uniform with SS insignia on them. The tropical is a lightweight feldgrau canvas similar to the smock material and is not so bad to wear when it's 90 degrees and 90% humidity. The HBT tunic usually gets worn under a camo smock and all you see is the collar. I'm sure some teenage smartass is just dying to use the word fard a few times right about now, but I really could care less. I wear it in our local airsoft games and don't have anything to do with traditional re-enactment so it shouldn't offend any of the traditionalists. ;D