Meet Mikhail...A work in progress

[Riley1965]

Nice, indeed!! It's a good thing Mikhail's papers are in order.:laff

Best,
Doc

[Mark Signa]

No, it is not his awards ( awards were confiscated from deserters, defectors and panic-mongers ). Just kidding... Spare awards looks good on colonel Nikolaj.:)

[Lapa]

Mark,

Are you sure that Nikolaj should wear this type of shoulder boards? I believe that these were used on the service and parade jackets only.

Marc

[Riley1965]

The shoulderboards should be of this style (Of course proper barnch insignia and piping). The shoulderboards come to a point (2-sides instead of 5-sided)
I have the same uniform except for Artillery Captain.

Best,
Doc

[Nack]

Hmm. Given the hat and all, it looks like Nikolaj is an early MVD officer, and would have the blue-piped, 6-sided boards like the predecessor NKVD officers. The boards do look a bit shiny tho--I thought they should be a bit more mellow. Kinda like this (photo by DougD)

[Jeffrey Meffert]

But I fear for Nikolaj's cap. The way the hat rack is distending the crown makes me fear that it may stretch it out (or worse, puncture the old wool) if it is left like that for a long time. Hopefully that was just for the photo

[Nack]

But I fear for Nikolaj's cap. The way the hat rack is distending the crown makes me fear that it may stretch it out (or worse, puncture the old wool) if it is left like that for a long time. Hopefully that was just for the photo

I second that. I put those oval sponges (the kind i also buy to wash the car) in hats to keep them in shape when displaying them. That would be a bit safer.

[willie777]

Thanks to All!!! This Air Force uniform is my favorite. I look forward to putting it on a full size mannequin with shirt, tie & Shoes and socks. As for the Saber...It's a Model 1860 U.S. Cavalry Saber.

Enjoy,
Doc

Im not sure, but did the soviet military even wear socks? I recall that they wore a wide band of fabric wrapped around each foot as socks (sort of like a cast). Please correct me if i'm wrong.

But anyway, fabulous uniform! Glad its found a nice home.

[Nack]

Im not sure, but did the soviet military even wear socks? I recall that they wore a wide band of fabric wrapped around each foot as socks (sort of like a cast). Please correct me if i'm wrong.

But anyway, fabulous uniform! Glad its found a nice home.

In interesting question. Actually, these wierd questions surface in my mind all the time. Were there official USSR military boxers? Socks? Regular belts for pants? You don't see "Soviet boxers" for sale on E all that often...

Anyway, yeah, I'm pretty sure that Soviet military folk wore socks. You are thinking about "putees" used in the GPW. I don't think they were used much after the GPW for obvious reasons though. The USSR wasn't quite that backwards, despite the propaganda...

[Lapa]

Nack,

I think that I can answer most of your questions. I recently encountered a bag full of army underwear, and what I found was pretty unexpected.

In short, there was summer and winter type of underwear: summer in light cotton, winter in heavy flanel-like cotton, both off-white colored.
Now, for the interesting bit:
. Undershirts: both types had long sleeves, round collar and 3 buttons on the neck
. Underpants: both types had long leggings; there was no such thing as boxer shorts or other types of underwear. There are two varieties, one for soldiers (bottom of the leg closes with 2 cords) and one for officers (bottom closes with buttons).
. Socks: apparently used only by officers, and only for non-combat situations. Soldiers used (and still use today) those putees as the Russian keep thinking that it forces soldiers to take care of their feet.
I'll try to take a few pictures of them and I'll post them.

Marc

PS: If anybody is interested, I have a few spare pieces of 1950's underware available.