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Post by hvd5677 on May 29, 2015 15:00:45 GMT -5
I've now got a set of P-37 webbing. I got Aussie suspender straps, which are wider than the British standard issue. One of the pouches I purchased has been blancoed in the early WWII British pea green shade. The rest is un blancoed. I have a recipe for recreating the pea green blanco with shoe cream (have previously used shoe cream to create blanco for my Great War P08 webbing). Any thoughts about the color of P37 webbing in the early war period ?
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Post by lew on May 29, 2015 17:21:38 GMT -5
Most of it seems to have been the straw-colored khaki, with very little of the dark khaki-green being seen. Pea green would probably be fine.
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Post by hvd5677 on May 29, 2015 17:35:30 GMT -5
Thanks very much
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Post by lew on May 30, 2015 8:24:40 GMT -5
Mind sharing your blanco recipe? Thanks to your query, I've really been thinkin' about adding a set of P37 webbing, a No. 4 Mk. 1 Rifle, and some P37 or P40 trousers, and doing both a late-WW2 Airborne Division and early-Indochina Troupes de Marine. I already have a Denison Smock and an M1 Carbine to add in. I hate you.    |
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Post by hvd5677 on May 30, 2015 10:02:02 GMT -5
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Post by craigtx on May 30, 2015 11:45:14 GMT -5
Don't worry about Steve hatin' you. It's kind of a "I've finally made it!" thing. Most of us here have felt the love at one time, or another. |
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Post by lew on May 30, 2015 17:08:46 GMT -5
I'm honored to be the keeper and guarantor of the great and illustrious traditions amongst us. We don't take things too seriously around here. If I did actually hate you, you'd certainly know it. Thanks for the link. I really to stop thinking about adding another impression for a while. |
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Post by hvd5677 on Jun 13, 2015 17:23:37 GMT -5
Before and after pea green blanco   |
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Post by craigtx on Jun 13, 2015 20:37:53 GMT -5
Nice job!
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Post by lew on Jun 14, 2015 8:31:28 GMT -5
That looks fantastic. I like the simplicity (at least that of the base layer) and the quaintness of British web equipment.
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 14, 2015 15:42:53 GMT -5
As far as I know, pea green is not an official or a commercial name for that color. Chances are, it would have been called jungle green, unofficially and officially, probably dark green. But as far as the shade goes, just about every shade of green from light green to dark green to bottle green showed up in factory webbing and canvas and likewise in Blanco. In fact, I recall reading a letter to the editor in Soldier magazine from the 1950s from a soldier who complained that different units used different shades of Blanco. But soldiers complain.
I also have a web belt and magazine pouch along with a 1st aid pouch that came down through the family. It's American and early WWI and it's in virtually brand new condition. It is in that shade of green called pea green by collectors but I'd call it pale olive green. I think it may have been referred to as olive drab at the time. The 1st aid pouch is in two shades of khaki, just for variety's sake, I assume.
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Post by craigtx on Jun 15, 2015 10:27:29 GMT -5
Sounds like you have an excellent piece there Kenneth!
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 15, 2015 13:12:25 GMT -5
Unfortunately, someone else has in the family his sword but he lets me touch it when I visit.
I also have my late father-in-law's web belt and magazine pouch but it looks like it had been used by a mechanic. My father-in-law served as an officer in the Army Air Corps. An interesting thing is that the first aid pouch with my father-in-law's gear is actually dated earlier than the one with the other set, both being dated, surprisingly. The point here is that some equipment seems to hang around forever.
By the way, neither web belt is marked with that prominent "U.S." that you would expect to see.
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Post by lew on Jun 15, 2015 13:51:03 GMT -5
Some web belts were not marked with the "US" at any point in their lifespan, and others had the marking fade away. That's really neat that you have his web gear. Here's an excellent resource on British web and leather gear: www.karkeeweb.com/ |
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Post by hvd5677 on Jun 15, 2015 15:48:09 GMT -5
As far as I know, pea green is not an official or a commercial name for that color. Chances are, it would have been called jungle green, unofficially and officially, probably dark green. But as far as the shade goes, just about every shade of green from light green to dark green to bottle green showed up in factory webbing and canvas and likewise in Blanco. In fact, I recall reading a letter to the editor in Soldier magazine from the 1950s from a soldier who complained that different units used different shades of Blanco. But soldiers complain. I also have a web belt and magazine pouch along with a 1st aid pouch that came down through the family. It's American and early WWI and it's in virtually brand new condition. It is in that shade of green called pea green by collectors but I'd call it pale olive green. I think it may have been referred to as olive drab at the time. The 1st aid pouch is in two shades of khaki, just for variety's sake, I assume. The "official" name of the pea green is No. 97 Khaki Green Medium. The jungle green is KG 3 Khaki Green (dark). |
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 16, 2015 13:38:49 GMT -5
I believe I've printed out everything from Kharkee Web. The best resource I've found on the subject. They have pretty much covered the subject by now.
I recall that when I was stationed at Ft. Sill and inside the post headquarters for some reason, there was a glass-topped display table filled with various things from other military units that had been presented to the artillery school. Mostly they were plaques but there were also a few web belts with regimental buckles from British units. The webbing had been plastered with Blanco and made a wonderful display object. I always thought American uniforms were so plain, although they really weren't. We just didn't have stable belts, regimental belt buckles and the like. Probably just as well since I was never very good at polishing things.
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 16, 2015 16:03:55 GMT -5
By the way, is that a back-adjustment web belt in the photos?
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Post by Étienne on Jun 16, 2015 17:05:18 GMT -5
Nice job on the blanco! I've always loved the Aussie "Pattern 1943" (or, I guess it's more correctly called "improved" Pattern 37) jungle webbing...I too have the braces but nothing else (found a canteen/WB carrier but haven't found any other components). If my memory serves me (which it typically does only about half the time), "all" Brit P37 equipment was blanco'd green sometime in 1944...can't remember if it was in time for all the D-Day fun or if it was for Market Garden (well, sometime around mid 1944 or early 1945!). I'm guessing once the war was over (by 1952 or 1953) the Brits went back to the khaki P37 for everywhere but the Far East, where of course the P44 was issued (not that P37 parts didn't find its way into/onto troops' kit). But perhaps the French were given the "outdated" khaki gear? Is anyone aware of any blanco'd P37 in use during the FIW? A UK surplus/militaria supplier has new made liquid blanco that looks good and appears to be easy to use, but of course shipping from England is typically $$$. |
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Post by hvd5677 on Jun 17, 2015 11:09:55 GMT -5
By the way, is that a back-adjustment web belt in the photos? I fully extended the belt when I blancoed it, but it adjusts at the side. |
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Post by hvd5677 on Jun 17, 2015 11:15:36 GMT -5
Nice job on the blanco! I've always loved the Aussie "Pattern 1943" (or, I guess it's more correctly called "improved" Pattern 37) jungle webbing...I too have the braces but nothing else (found a canteen/WB carrier but haven't found any other components). If my memory serves me (which it typically does only about half the time), "all" Brit P37 equipment was blanco'd green sometime in 1944...can't remember if it was in time for all the D-Day fun or if it was for Market Garden (well, sometime around mid 1944 or early 1945!). I'm guessing once the war was over (by 1952 or 1953) the Brits went back to the khaki P37 for everywhere but the Far East, where of course the P44 was issued (not that P37 parts didn't find its way into/onto troops' kit). But perhaps the French were given the "outdated" khaki gear? Is anyone aware of any blanco'd P37 in use during the FIW? A UK surplus/militaria supplier has new made liquid blanco that looks good and appears to be easy to use, but of course shipping from England is typically $$$. The info I have seen indicates pea green predominated 1940-1943 and the dark green blanco thereafter. Some of the pictures of web belts in Guyader look greenish, but hard to tell what shade. |
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Post by lew on Jun 17, 2015 11:36:36 GMT -5
The P-37 sets shown in Les Paras Français en Indochine appear to be the straw color or a light green.
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