"Winter War Soviet and Finnish Painting Guide" Topic

I just finished a fair amount of research on Winter War (1939-1940) uniforms and gear so I thought I'd post it here so it's all in one place!

Soviet Infantry and NCOs: Infantry wore a grayish-brown greatcoat and budenovka peaked cap (I used P3 Thornwood for both) with a red star (Army Painter Dragon Red). The M1891/30 had a reddish-brown finish (I used P3 Bloodstone for a rich, reddish brown). Webbing and kit seems to have been a drab greenish-brown with a medium-brown leather belt (I just used Vallejo Green Brown for all of these at it made them stand out from the grey-brown overcoat better in 15mm scale). Marching boots were black. Pants and tunic (underneath the greatcoat) were khaki (I used Vallejo Green Brown again for simplicity). For the trenching tool handle, I used Coat d'Arms Barbarian Leather (basically a more blonde-wood finish). For their frost-bitten skin, I used Coat d'Arms Dwarf Flesh.

Soviet Officers: Like infantry, except that they wore a dark-grey greatcoat and budenovka (I used Coat d'Arms Slate Grey). Alternately, they could wear a leather greatcoat (either black or medium brown) or a cream-colored, wool-lined bekesha coat (Coat d'Arms Buff with white for the wool lining). Officers were the most likely recipients of the extremely thick solid wool boots, which were a warm khaki-grey (I used P3 Bastion Grey with a light dry brush of P3 Jack Bone. Pistol holsters were reddish-brown (I used P3 Bloodstone).

Finnish Infantry: Winter parkas were obviously white (I highlighted white over Coat d'Arms Uniform Grey, leaving the resources darker). Fur hats were dark grey with light grey wool lining (I used Uniform Grey again, but washed it with Army Painter Dark Tone to darken it up and very gently drybrushed a little white onto the fur to make it light grey). Jackboots were black and the Jaeger's Lapland boot was medium-brown (Army Painter Oak Brown) with a quilted grayish-brown shaft (I used P3 Bastion Grey). Rifle, sling, webbing and belt all seem to be a medium brown (I used Army Painter Oak Brown for each, but I might change the sling to add more variety). The KP-31 Suomi sling was dark green leather (I used Coat d'Arms Black Green). The helmets were greenish-brown (I used Vallejo Cayman Green, but really it should be more brown than that). The tunics, pants and caps were medium-grey (I just used Coat d'Arms Uniform Grey again because I liked how it looked, but you could use a less blue-ish grey like Coat d'Arms Mid Grey). I washed everything except the white winter parkas with Army Painter Dark Tone to darken the colours slightly and outline everything.

Officers: Officers were dressed much like infantry, but were even more likely to have personally purchased items (gloves, coats, boots and so on).

What make of paint is P3?

"Jaeger's Lapland boot"?

"KP-31 Suomi sling was dark green leather"?

Very useful, thanks.

Lonkka, my research indicates that the Jääkäri were often issued the boots with the upturned toe for fitting in skiis. These are referred to as Lapland boots in English-language books. Do you know it to be otherwise? As for the Suomi sling, Michael Heidler states in "The Finnish Submachine Gun Suomi M/31 " (2015) that the KP-31 was issued with a dark green leather sling during the Winter War.

Vigilant, P3 is Privateer Press' line of model paint. They make acrylic paint for hobbyists and wargamers. Highly recommended! link

Mr Jones, cheers, happy to help.

I was under thee impression that the Lapikaat (Lapland boot) was a private purchase, and was not restricted to the Jagers.
Have a couple of pair myself.

Korvessa, they weren't restricted to the Jaegers! Infantry could have had them too, if they were personal purchases (most likely among soldiers from the Lapland). Jaegers were issued them though, due to their role as ski troops (in the summer they were bicycle troops, but that is neither here nor there for the Winter War).

Achtung Minen, as a Finn I can say that Jaegers being issued Lappland boots is just total fantasy fabrication!

Most of the boots that time were attachable to skis and when being able hand out issued material, the army handed out generic black leather boots.

During WInter War Finland was in short supply of everything army related so many a soldier were issued a uniform of "Model Cajander". Here is what even the English Wikipedia has to say:

"Cajander's name is remembered for "Model Cajander", the fashion of many Finnish soldiers in Winter War: the army was poorly equipped, so conscripts were given a utility belt, an emblem to be attached to the hat — to comply with the Hague Conventions — and, hopefully, a rifle. Otherwise, they had to use their own clothes and equipment."

link

So thinking that jaegers, or any other branch, would've been issued something directly from the manual is a pipedream.

AFAIK, all the Lappland boots in army use were the property of men who wore them and which they had just taken to war with them.

Never seen a green sling for Suomi SMG and quickly googling couldn't find one either.

All the ones I saw in the army were brown leather.

The one I own myself (deactivated) also has (dark) brown sling.

So I'll take that with a grain of salt. :)

Cheerio from Finland (not Massachusetts…)

Hi Lonkka, I wasn't using my location as my qualifications as an authority, I was using published scholarly studies of the period. But perhaps you were also alive during the 1940's?

Cheerio from Massachusetts (not Finland).

Scholarly studies my !

If you were a Finn you'd be rolling on the floor laughing at your claim jaegers being issued Lappland boots. I'm absolutely sure that some jaegers did wear such boots but only because they brought their own boots with them to war. Claiming such equipment to be part of the jaeger kit is preposterous.

Since you are a scholar, you naturally wouldn't mind divulging these scholarly sources you refer to, right?

Lonkka, some more civil manners and less preconceived notions would be appreciated by most forum readers.
Claims like the OPs makes me interested to learn more and gives me an excuse to bring out some books. :)
On green KP-31 slings I found this in Osprey Weapons 54 – The Suomi submachine gun by Leroy Thompson: "Two types of slings were issued for the Suomi – both of leather.
Pre-Winter War slings were of brown leather and similar to the Finnish rifle sling, though longer. During the Winter War and Continuation War, slings were of green leather (Heidler 2015: 20)"
The Heidler reference is:
Heidler, Michael (2015). Die finnische Machinenpistole Suomi M/31. Zweibrucken: Heinz Nickel.
Unfortunately I don't have access to this book.
I would imagine that many wartime slings would have been replaced and also that the green tint may have worn off overtime, so completely ruling out green slings on basis of what was in use in the 1990s(?) don't really make sense. I think some more research is required.
On Laplander boots I found several mentions of them but nothing conclusive, but they seem to have been issued, especially for ski troops, as well as privately boots being used. There is a section in Petteri Leinos Asepuku m/36 on boots, and also Jarkkos excellent Jaeger Platoon website mentions them. This also seems to need further research.