Canadian uniform colour

[Hoopenfaust2]

Mr. Dorosh will know this but I'm curious to the subject.

Since going to Vimy House ( large war museum) and seeing canadian uniforms as green, how come I haven't seen a mod like this. They all seem to be brownish in colour, or it that because the british share the same bmpeez and the britsh never had any green in their uniforms.

Well I think I'm going to make a green canadian uniform, just to piss off the brits.

Check this page out.

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/analogue/uniforms/english/ww2/

[ May 16, 2002, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: Hoopenfaust 101 ]

[Bruno Weiss]

Atta boy, give em what for!

[lcm1947]

If I am not mistaken the reason why the Brits don't acknowledge thier uniforms as being green is so not to be confused as frogs. Yes frog. Frogs are green as we all know. Well, anyway, since the France are known as frogs the British didn't want to be confused with them. So there you have it. Please don't ask me to refer you to the vast amount of material I used to arrive at this conclusion. It was mostly just common sense.

[AndrewTF]

Many real khaki battledress uniforms that I've seen have a green-brown look to them. for some reasons all of the CM uniforms--both originals and mods, mine included--are a medium brown in color. How's this one for a change?

It's not done yet. I actually just whipped it up here at work. The webbing and equipment are from my old Brit mod. The battledress textures are all new.

BTW, I'm not trying to be one of those people who show pix of cool mods and then doesn't release them. They'll all be released eventually (before CMBB?!), I promise.

[Hoopenfaust2]

Andrew, check your in-box. I've got the colour I want to change the uniform to but I'm at work and really lazy. I'll probably try something at home tonite.

Can I get your blessing and mess about with your set? This would be for personal use only.

Cheers

[AndrewTF]

Knock yourself out. You may use whatever you like. I'll see what I can do with this new version.

[AndrewTF]

Argh! Double post! :mad:

[ May 16, 2002, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: AndrewTF ]

[Michael Dorosh]

I've always thought Andrews uniforms were a perfect match for Canadian BD - in fact, too dark to be British but just right for Canadian. Bear in mind that any uniforms made in large numbers will have a large variance in colour due to dye and material lots, exposure to the sun and elements, etc. I have a dozen or so BD uniforms in my collection and have handled dozens more of original samples, and no two ever really looked alike in terms of colour. A quest for one "perfect" example would well be fruitless.

Andrew, when are you going to do a denim battledress mod? In NW Europe it was common to wear denim BD overtop the wool battledress, or in lieu of wool BD in summer. Would be a great mod to have.

Your CW equipment mods have been perfect, incidentally, and you have captured WE 37 equipment to the absolute T.

[AndrewTF]

Michael - can you provide me with any pictures of the denim battledress? With some good pictures, and an idea of what the color was like, I can probably put something together.

Glad you like the web equipment. It looks so accurate because I cobbled it together out of photographs of the real thing.

[Hoopenfaust2]

So would the drab-green brown uniform be non-historical. If so, why do the war museums display more of a green colour uniform.

I'm confused

Mr. Dorosh, I picked up your book at my local hobby store, I told them I only know you by your CM mods.

Cheers

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Hoopenfaust 101:

So would the drab-green brown uniform be non-historical. If so, why do the war museums display more of a green colour uniform.

I'm confused

Mr. Dorosh, I picked up your book at my local hobby store, I told them I only know you by your CM mods.

Cheers

If it gets you a discount, you have my permission to say you're my brother!

[Michael Dorosh]

Actually, the case here in Calgary is that post WW II battledress is often used on mannequins, etc., to stand in for WW II. Don't know if other museums do that as well. If I had some idea of what colour you think "green" is - it might be your monitor settings to be honest. Or are you referring to uniforms you've seen in person?

[Hoopenfaust2]

if you ever get the chance to come to ottawa poke your head into the Vimy part of the war museum,its totally hidden from the usual tourist places. On saturdays only vets give you tours, some wear there old jackets ( assumed a replacement), these jackets are green. Inside glass cases, the uniforms are greenish olive brown. I'll send you pic of inside the museum, and the uniform.

You are the expert

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Hoopenfaust 101:

You are the expert

You're far too kind - I don't believe in that word, and even if one thinks it exists - I am far from it! I've been lucky to be able to talk to some great collectors, vets, curators and vendors, though, and other enthusiasts - like you and Andrew. It's been rewarding, learning from each other.

I hope to get to Ottawa some day; my publisher invited me two summers ago, but I got laid off from my job just as plans were being finalized. Vimy House sounds excellent - I hope to make it for the large re-enactment planned to coincide with the opening of the new CWM in - 2004?

[Thin Red Line]

There are option files in excellent Andrew_TF's Commonwealth uniforms with ''blanco'' gear. I am wondering was does it correspond to ? Was is a kind of field modification for camo purposes ? Was this more or less common than the standard one ?

(BTW I'd really like to see the Allies uniforms sets CMMOSed as well, i have heard something was incoming, was it the status now ?)

Regards

[ May 17, 2002, 08:09 AM: Message edited by: Thin Red Line ]

[Michael Dorosh]

Blanco was a form of cleanser, used in cake form like soap, that was used to scrub the cotton webbing clean. It came in different colours, which Andrew has captured nicely - a tan "khaki" colour and a greenish colour were the predominant shades. You don't see many original items these days that have been blancoed, and the stuff hasn't been used for decades.

The metal parts would have been brassoed - polished with brass cleaner, though official regulations stated that the brass parts were to be left tarnished to as not to catch the sun and draw the eye. As the war went on, the brass was replaced with painted steel and in the case of Canadian gear, phenolic resin.

[Darknight (DC)]

I don't know if it helps but I was at the CWM (that building is far too small for the subject matter BTW) in March and took pictures of the rack of WWII uniforms, among other interesting items, that they have on display there for my insignia research. They don't seem to be too greenish to me, but there is variation in the colour. I would post a few pictures but can't figure out how to get a picture inserted.

I don't claim to be a battledress grog....but ask me about insignia and that's becoming a different story.

[Hoopenfaust2]

Which War museum did you go to? There are two, one is on Sussex Drive, which is called "The war museum" (must have been after the war that they came up with that name). The other war museum is called "Vimy". It holds at least 10 Sherman variants, some german tanks, 88 flaks, russian anti-tank guns. The other war museum is tiny and dates back to British colony war.

I've got pictures to, but we've both got the same problem with posting the pix.

[Darknight (DC)]

I was at the main "Canadian War Museum"....just up the street from the American Embassy and the National Art Gallery (it has the Sherman tank out front). It tries to cover all Canadian military services throughout all of their conflicts (a pretty tall order for such a small building). It contains lots of items but apparently there's 6 times as much stored away waiting for the new building.

[AndrewTF]

Originally posted by Hoopenfaust 101:

Which War museum did you go to? There are two, one is on Sussex Drive, which is called "The war museum" (must have been after the war that they came up with that name). The other war museum is called "Vimy". It holds at least 10 Sherman variants, some german tanks, 88 flaks, russian anti-tank guns. The other war museum is tiny and dates back to British colony war.

I've got pictures to, but we've both got the same problem with posting the pix.

How the heck did I miss Vimy House? :confused:

I went to the small War Museum, and I was still pretty impressed. Actually, I was actually pretty impressed with Ottawa as a whole, but then seeing a major world city with clean streets is a big deal for me. How far out was Vimy from downtown?

[Darknight (DC)]

I found Ottawa to be a fairly impressive city too (March was my first trip there as an adult). But in December, I visited the Wolseley Barracks in London (regimental museum of the Royal Canadian Regt) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found that it was much easier to follow history of a single regiment (in depth) than the very broad scope of the war museum (at the risk of repeating myself, that building is just too small for the subject matter).

[AndrewTF]

I got bored this afternoon at work and finished the new battledress as seen in the screenshot above. I made a khaki-brown British "austerity pattern" blouse as well as a more greenish colored fly-front Canadian version. I will try to release them this weekend, along with the new Waffen-SS and winter camo outfits.

Should I release the new field grey uniforms (as found in the new CMMOS German uniforms release) as a standalone mod, too?

[Hoopenfaust2]

Yeah the Vimy House is impossible to find if you haven't grown up here. Its only open saturdays and these really friendly vets ask if you want a tour, its also free but they ask for a donation for the new museum (which will open in 2004 with all the vimy and small war museum stuff). They tell me stories of drinking wine with the italian civilians near Ortona. One chap who took me around was a sherman tank commander. Its funny how I knew more about ww II than he did and more about canadian history, when he is our history. It makes me feel like a war monger....oh well.

Andrew check your in box, I've got questions for you.

Home of america's taliban LOL