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NKVD troops

hi all...working on ww2 russians. can anyone tell me what color the shoulder boards were on the ww2 NKVD troops? also, were their fur hats black or brown? trying to finish up some ww2 stuff. i must say it's been fun painting ww2 russians and germans. i spent too much time with napoleonics so i needed a break with ww2 stuff. anyway, i wanted to paint one russian company as NKVD and am having a hard time with sources. if they're pictured at all, it's usually black and white photos, you know. any suggestions would be helpful.

Re: NKVD troops

Blue trousers and I think pink bands around their caps, don't know about their fur hats at all.

Re: Re: NKVD troops

thanks, graham! i have read that NKVD border guards wore a medium green epaulets or shoulder boards. but i'm not sure. the blue trousers seemed to be common with early war officers and cossacks. so i can see how the NKVD would have them as well. the only thing is...pink. i hesitate to paint a military figure with pink...unless i'm forced to. i did try a 'rot' color on the AWI french and they looked fine. thanks again, graham!

Re: Re: Re: NKVD troops

http://www.alanger.ru/index.php?lng=eng&nav1=16&nav2=9&set=73

Alanger offers a 1/35 kit of SMERSH - NKVD troops. The branch colour on your figures must be distinguishable from the red of the infantry.
Funcken has a plate with NKVD troops, with blue trousers, but I don't have the book with me.

Re: Re: Re: Re: NKVD troops

hi Radu...yes i agree, i want the NKVD troops to be distinct from the guards or rifle companies...one source tells me that NKVD border guards wore green epaulets. but a NKVD unit responsible for a penal battalion may have worn something else. i may very well go with the blue trousers, but did they wear them in the field? i'll have to do more research and thanks for your suggestions, Radu.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NKVD troops

I did a bit of research, but didn't come up with much. Osprey MAA 216 - Red Army of the Great Patriotic War, is my only refference.
You were right about the border troops and their bright medium green branch colour. Now about the pink of the Internal Security troops, I did not find any evidence. Some 2 decades ago, I remember reading some Sven Hassel book were there were some similar descriptions of NKVD fur hats with some yellow-pink insignia.
To make the soviet figures in 1/72 look like NKVD, I suggest you use peaked cap heads, from WWI russians or early british, as even the privates had them. Similar to WWII british Military Police.
The branch colour of NKVD was from 1943 sky-blue, worn on the peak of the cap at least by officers, with red band and red piping (as opposed to the infantry, who wore raspberry). Shoulder boards were blue. I think the Alanger SMERSH are as described in Osprey.
For your red army, did you also paint some komissars or politruks?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NKVD troops

hi Radu...yes i did see the blue and red caps as NKVD. so i may paint a few officers as such. as it is, my soviets army is small but growing. at present i have 6 hat t-34s, 5 corgi t-34s, some artillery and trucks, and my infantry is organized as such: revell and italieri are guards, esci are a motorized rifles unit, and the siberians are only used for the 'winter' phase of my campaign game. i have some old airfix infantry which look so pitiful that they are a penal company. the NKVD troops are atlantic russians. i also found a set of soviet tankers by LW. and the revell cossacks (my favorites). at least one of each of every set but i'm planning on expanding this army. for years i concentrated on the western front. i think pegasus new releases will give the soviets a shot in the arm, interest wise. the nice thing is they are not hard to paint. simple uniforms and equipment. i made a nice winter scene as a place to display the siberians and caesar germans. as far as kommisars, you gave me a great idea! thanks again for your help!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NKVD troops

The kommisars had light blue caps and trousers, and red stars on their sleeves.
Is there a difference in scale between the T-34 from Hat & Corgi? Is it noticeable?

Thank you,

radu

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NKVD troops

hi Radu...the difference between the corgi and hat t-34s is great, size wise. the hat t-34s are huge in comparison to the corgi's. so i never brigade them together. the corgi's look more like H0 scale, hat are real 1/72. so i use the hat t-34's with italieri and revell russians, and corgi t-34's with airfix and atlantic troops. keep in mind, i use them for wargames, instead of actual dioramas. and if they're dropped off table, no damage. i merely wanted to build up my soviet armor rather quickly, so the corgi's work for now. the hat t-34s are a great idea for building large formations quickly. i still use some actual models made from years past, but they suffer real time damage and are a pain to maintain. highly reccomend the hat t-34's. i drilled the turret cupolas out and now they have commanders. cool!