Russian WWII uniform

[KeyanSark]

Hi all:

I've always thought the russian uniform in WWII was some light brown type, but seeing many miniatures pages, it seems that it is painted in a kind of smooth green...

Any tips on colours?

[Westfalia Chris]

I recall wartime reports that due to the relocation effort and the problems of keeping standards during the war years, the actual tone of uniform could vary greatly between production batches, depending on manufacturer and time of production.

So you could actually vary the tone, especially on the telogreika jackets, and it is another case of "boils down to personal preference". I, for one, would use a slightly greenish khaki.

[Chris Steadman]

There were supposed to be separate winter and summer uniforms and the wool, winter, uniform was supposed to be a bit greener than the cotton summer uniform, which was more brown. All academic really because, as Chris says, the colour of the textiles produced for the job varied widely. I have seen examples of telogreika that are dark chocolate brown and another, from the same collection, that is a very pale brown, indeed almost white in colour.

If however you want to achieve a colour that is near to what was supposed to be used, look at the MAA Osprey (N0.216) "The Red Army of the Great Patriotic War 1941-45" Zaloga & Volstad 1989 isbn 0-85045-939-7

[Prof.Witchheimer]

check it out:
http://www.tridentmilitary.com/Soviet-WW2/soviet-ww2-uniforms.html

[KeyanSark]

Thanks everyone for the info. It seems the fabric was greenish than I thought.

If Neldoreth reads this topic, I'd be grateful to know which colours did he use for his russians...

[SgtPerry]

Here are the colours that I used to paint my russian infantry.

Winter uniform:  Foundry Rawhide palette
Summer uniform : Foundry Moss Palette ( A, A+B, B with a bit of C)

Canvas webbing and bags : Foundry Moss Palette  ( B, B+C, C)

The long coat either rolled or worn : Foundry Drab Palette




Hope it helps.

Olivier

[Howard Whitehouse]

What are you saying?

That a country without a sophisticated industrial structure, riven by years of revolution and civil war, under threat of annihilation by an invader could not manage the sort of precise uniformity of production that we associate with, say, a McDonald's franchise in the suburbs?

I, for one, am shocked!

[fastolfrus]

I would probably hazard a mix of green/khaki and brown/khaki units.

Can't remember the source for this one, but I read last year about  some of the final uniform deliveries for German Volksturm/police/flak detachments (possibly even engineering units) etc in spring 1945 being mainly brown jackets or coats. The unlucky recipients on the eastern front were rounded up as saboteurs and shot for wearing Russian style/colour uniforms.

[KeyanSark]

The unlucky recipients on the eastern front were rounded up as saboteurs and shot for wearing Russian style/colour uniforms.

Can't believe that... Terrible times those. I think "terrible" is not a good enough word to describe those days.

[majorsmith]

i used gw graveyard earth for my russians, touch of black in the mix first, using bleached bone to in the mix to highlight, turned out quite nice

[Plynkes]

i used gw graveyard earth for my russians, touch of black in the mix first, using bleached bone to in the mix to highlight, turned out quite nice

Graveyard Earth is quite a useful colour for all kinds of khaki uniforms. It's a good starting point to which you can add a touch of brown or yellow, depending on what kind of khaki you want.