"Finnish Winter War Skis" Topic

Does anyone happen to know what color Finnish skis were? In the black and white photos I've seen they look pretty dark, but maybe my eyes are being fooled by the contrast. Any idea of the material?

Thanks in advance,
John

Finnish skis of that time were made out of wood, and the shade would depend on how old they were. The bottoms of the skis were usually treated with tar (heated to make it soak into wood) and this would make the bottoms very dark brown, almost black. Some of this tar might have also ended on the top side.

I have no idea whether the military issue skis were painted on the top pre-war, but civilian skis were typically unpainted. Significant numbers of civilian skis were donated to the military, and there was an attempt to have these painted white on the top before being issued.

However, gaming-wise white skis on white snow might not look the best. If you go for a plain wood option, you could make them in lighter and darker shades to make them look like a hastily received shipment of donated civilian skis of various origins.

PS: Winter War did not take place in the interwar period, but approximately 3-6 months after the beginning of WWII.

Thanks!

I forgot to mention that the ordinary skis used back then were wider (and possibly also longer) than the modern sporting skis. In the countryside, they could be needed for everyday personal transportation. Travelling over fields and forests covered in deep snow required that the skis had large surface area to better distribute the weight.

So any miniature skis should look suitably "heroically proportioned" from a modern perspective.