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Post by dercommissar on Mar 17, 2010 14:37:14 GMT -5
Does anyone know where to find a reasonably priced British Army Officer's Peaked Cap? I have spent the better part of an hour looking, but have not really managed to find anything. The retailer needs to ship to the US. Do what price glory not stock them? What impression do you want it for? They are pretty rare to see in the field post Overlord. the GS beret or tam o shanter replaced the peaked cap as officers headgear for all but very senior ranks in the field and most officers aquired khaki berets. Well originally it was all for a film, so I have a couple of Khaki Bush Jackets, P-37 webbing, ammo boots, gaiters, and matching trousers. It was supposed to simulate early war South-East Asian kit. The film never panned out, so I am reallocating the things for Airsoft. I had access to helmets and a few other type of hats, but that resource is now gone. Most of the time I would rather be a regular, but since I am supposed to be leading people at times I just want to look the part. I looked on WPG, but could not find it, unless I was just being dense. edit: onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=1033&bc=no - There is that, but it has been out of stock for an extended period of time.
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Post by dercommissar on Apr 8, 2010 23:45:03 GMT -5
I abandoned the officer bit. I decided to just go as a regular soldier, '44 Burma impression. I have a slouch hat which will suffice, but I do not know if I can bring myself to blanco my webbing.
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gadge
Corporal
Posts: 1,199
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Post by gadge on Apr 11, 2010 5:49:15 GMT -5
If you're doing burma you should dye your webbing.
Webbing and kds were dyed green at unit level.
*not* blancoing kit is pretty Flaggrantly Wrong unless you're doing north africa, some parts of the med or specific units like 1RTR.
Yup it takes time and is messy but its essential to the impression. Raw/sand webbing on NWE or Far east impressions just looks stupid and wrong.
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gadge
Corporal
Posts: 1,199
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Post by gadge on Apr 11, 2010 5:51:41 GMT -5
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Post by dercommissar on Apr 11, 2010 9:34:13 GMT -5
If you're doing burma you should dye your webbing. Webbing and kds were dyed green at unit level. *not* blancoing kit is pretty Flaggrantly Wrong unless you're doing north africa, some parts of the med or specific units like 1RTR. Yup it takes time and is messy but its essential to the impression. Raw/sand webbing on NWE or Far east impressions just looks stupid and wrong. I understand that completely. I just got a book British Tropical Uniforms 1939-45 in Colour, which covers that in explicit detail. Outside of the mess tin, I have almost every major component of the kit. I figured if I was going to do it, I was going to do it as accurately as possible. A tremendous amount of money from WPG later, and I have almost everything you are wearing in the photo above. My problem is that I may use the P-37 gear for western europe later at blank firing reenactments, assuming I can get a Mk. III. While in the end $70-100 for a new set of webbing maybe trivial, right now I am kind of stuck in the middle.
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gadge
Corporal
Posts: 1,199
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Post by gadge on Apr 11, 2010 10:39:37 GMT -5
Excellent stuff, sorry its just one of the strange things that outside of the UK hardly any re-enactors of British units blanco their webbing, i dont know if folk think it in some way damages it when it actually protects it.
I've got about five sets now, an unblancoed one for Africa impressions, a beat up blancoed 'in the field' set for officer, senior NCO and rifleman and a lightwieght sas set of belt MT pouch and pistol holster.
TBH the dyed webbing is about the same shade as blancoed webbing after a bit of wear. In our old far east group we used to use blancoed rather than dyed webbing as it looked the same and had the abvantange it coudl be scrubbed out if neccesary.
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Post by dercommissar on Apr 11, 2010 15:39:19 GMT -5
Excellent stuff, sorry its just one of the strange things that outside of the UK hardly any re-enactors of British units blanco their webbing, i dont know if folk think it in some way damages it when it actually protects it. I've got about five sets now, an unblancoed one for Africa impressions, a beat up blancoed 'in the field' set for officer, senior NCO and rifleman and a lightwieght sas set of belt MT pouch and pistol holster. TBH the dyed webbing is about the same shade as blancoed webbing after a bit of wear. In our old far east group we used to use blancoed rather than dyed webbing as it looked the same and had the abvantange it coudl be scrubbed out if neccesary. The last skirmish I fought (curse you AGM STEN), I was wearing KD, so it seemed a little less pressing to blanco the kit. Now that everything is in JG, I utterly agree that it will look kind of silly without dye or blanco. When I do get around to it, what would be the best blanco to purchase anyway? I have read: www.blancoandwebbing.co.uk/how-to-apply-blanco/On WPG they have: onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=2981&bc=no - Substitute blanco onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=4535&bc=no - Real Blanco, but they do not seem to have a suitable color to compliment JG kit On a side note, your photos are truly remarkable. In one of the other threads it was as if you have reenacted a countless number of units. I was pointing it out to some of our men as a reference. Most of the real WW2 photos it is hard for people to differentiate the differences in kit. It is good when I can point to a photo and explain why P-58 just will not cut it in the long run.
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gadge
Corporal
Posts: 1,199
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Post by gadge on Apr 11, 2010 16:49:58 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words.
If you've a set of BD, JGS and KDs then its pretty easy to do a lot of commonwealth units by mixing and matching items and changing headress.
I cant really help you on the blanco front as I've always used cakes of KG3 (i've got about a cake and a third left so am very reluctant to re blanco my kit until i rally have to)
Folk i've spoken to seem to have got good results with the shoe creme option though.
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Post by dercommissar on Apr 11, 2010 17:27:20 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words. If you've a set of BD, JGS and KDs then its pretty easy to do a lot of commonwealth units by mixing and matching items and changing headress. I cant really help you on the blanco front as I've always used cakes of KG3 (i've got about a cake and a third left so am very reluctant to re blanco my kit until i rally have to) Folk i've spoken to seem to have got good results with the shoe creme option though. I am pretty sure the shoe creme option is most practical. It will give me something to lump in when I order a pair of mess tins. On a final note, it is a damn shame that no one makes an affordable Lee Enfield. I just spent the better part of a day fixing the shoddy workmanship on the AGM STEN. It just does not feel completely right without men carrying rifles.
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Post by ash on Apr 16, 2010 0:39:03 GMT -5
I bought 2 jars of the shoe creme from WPG and mixed it at the recommended ratio of a teaspoon full of GW/ Citadel paints 'Catachan' green. Don't fill the teaspoon completely, I had one piece of decently blancoed gear to compare it to, and if the teaspoon is full, it's just a little too dark. At first it looked like such a little jar wouldn't do much, and I thought I was gonna run out halfway through. As it was, 2 jars of the shoe creme and paint mix did: 2xbrace straps, 2xbasic pouches, belt, 1xpair of anklets and large frame revolver holster. There was probably also enough to do a skeleton canteen holster, but since I didn't have a spare one to add to it (my only canteen holder stays unblancoed for my 2NZEF impression), I just used up the leftover mixture tidying up patchy bits. 3 jars would have been better, as it would have allowed me to blanco the reverse side of the items, and I didn't have enough out of 2 jars to do that. So all in all, I'd recommend 3 jars for the above, rather than the 2 which I used; 4 jars if you are going to add a pack and L straps; 5 jars if you are going to add both small and large packs (and relevant straps) and entrenching tool holder; 6 if you want to blanco the reverse sides of your items as well. Not cheap, but try finding blanco anyway (still beats dealing with German webbing).
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Post by dercommissar on Apr 16, 2010 18:12:45 GMT -5
I bought 2 jars of the shoe creme from WPG and mixed it at the recommended ratio of a teaspoon full of GW/ Citadel paints 'Catachan' green. Don't fill the teaspoon completely, I had one piece of decently blancoed gear to compare it to, and if the teaspoon is full, it's just a little too dark. At first it looked like such a little jar wouldn't do much, and I thought I was gonna run out halfway through. As it was, 2 jars of the shoe creme and paint mix did: 2xbrace straps, 2xbasic pouches, belt, 1xpair of anklets and large frame revolver holster. There was probably also enough to do a skeleton canteen holster, but since I didn't have a spare one to add to it (my only canteen holder stays unblancoed for my 2NZEF impression), I just used up the leftover mixture tidying up patchy bits. 3 jars would have been better, as it would have allowed me to blanco the reverse side of the items, and I didn't have enough out of 2 jars to do that. So all in all, I'd recommend 3 jars for the above, rather than the 2 which I used; 4 jars if you are going to add a pack and L straps; 5 jars if you are going to add both small and large packs (and relevant straps) and entrenching tool holder; 6 if you want to blanco the reverse sides of your items as well. Not cheap, but try finding blanco anyway (still beats dealing with German webbing). That is good to know. One thing I was wondering is if the modeling paint effects the consistency of the polish at all? Long term will it be more permanent than if it were just shoe polish. It maybe a stupid question, but it was something I was kind of thinking about.
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Post by ash on Apr 27, 2010 20:28:42 GMT -5
The consistency changes a little, but not much. It is still pretty thick and goes a long way if you use a good brush (I used a toothbrush).
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Post by scouser on Feb 12, 2011 8:42:33 GMT -5
Hello, I am in NJ. Started building my British Para Impression.... Looking for a unit to join....any ides?
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