Military History | World War II
WW2 Painting Guide: Russian Infantry

Posted 9 Dec 2003

I was puzzled by Soviet Infantry uniforms for a while because:

Roland paints Russians a kind of greenish khaki. It turns out this is Tamiya 'Khaki' (XF-49). You can see more of Roland's painting in my Steven's Russian Rifle Battalion.

Roland uses Tamiya 'Khaki' (XF-49)

But my other mates Ian and Wayne - who paint for Battle Front - give them British Khaki uniforms, i.e. brown. Looking at Battle Front: Late-war painting guide it seems they recommend Tamiya 'Flat Earth' (XF-52), although I suspect Ian uses Humbrol. Most of the BF Russian Helmets are green (e.g. Vallejo Russian Green). You can see more of Ian's painting on my Crossfire pages.

BattleFront use Tamiya 'Flat Earth' (XF-52)
for the uniform and
Vallejo Russian Green for the helmets

I worried about this for a while, but then I read this ...

The common uniform colour was called khaki, but this had an unusually wide definition. Uniforms varied from an ochre through a sort of dull chocolate brown, with various sandy green through camo green increasingly common towards the end of the war. (WW2 European theatre uniforms)

There was no standardization in the material itself, and I even have an excellent photo that clearly shows a female, soldier wearing a gymnastiorka tunic made out of lend-lease G.I. herringbone twill. Color of material varied from anything to near-white shades of green to dark brown and green khakis. An example of a gymnastiorka in the Patton museum is made of a wonderfully dark green shade of U.S. G.I. blanket wool. (Daniel Welch Portrayal Of Soviet Forces: The Frontovik)

... which by and large seems to include almost any brown or green shade.

Blankets were brown (Daniel Welch Portrayal Of Soviet Forces: The Frontovik).

According to World Army Uniforms Since 1939 (Mollo, McGregor, Smith & Chappell, 1973) the great coats could vary in colour from pale grey to red brown, whereas The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia & Organisation (Mollo, 2000) says "greyish-brown". In both books all Russian great coats are represented as grey.

For Scouts in camo, Roland used the same greenish Khaki but with dark green splotches on top. But this scheme is only one of a several used. Most scout figures wear a side cap which Roland painted normal greenish Khaki.

Steven's Recommendations

Here's how I'm gonig to paint my next battalion:

Item	Steven
Helmet and Vehicles	Vallejo 70894 Russian Green (096) with two dry brushed layers of ligher shades (i.e mixed with white)
Infantry Tunic, Breeches, Cap (if worn)	For a brownish shade: Base colour Vallejo English Uniform (141) Highlight Vallejo 70880 Khaki Grey (113) For a greenish shade Cote D'arms 528 Russian Brown or Tamiya 'Khaki' (XF-49) both of which are greenish
Boots	Vallejo 70950 Black
Belts and webbing	Vallejo 70983 Flat Earth
Packs, bags, pouches, canvas on vehicles etc	Vallejo 70821 German Camo Beige (103) with one dry brushed lighter shade on bigger pieces
Great Coat / Coat Roll	Vallejo 70874 USA Tan Earth
Metal e.g. Guns barrels	Vallejo 70863 Gunmetal Grey
Wood e.g. Gun stocks	Vallejo 70875 Beige Brown
Faces and hands	Vallejo 70955 Flat Flesh
Wood e.g. Carts and Wagons	Heavy dry brush Cote D'arms 534 Dark Leather (Vallejo 145 German Camouflage Mid Brown) Dry brush Cote D'arms 524 Tan Earth (Vallejo 113 Khaki Grey ) Light Dry brush 50:50 mix Cote D'arms 524 Tan Earth and White.

BattleFront Recommendations

I've just noticed that BF recommend quite a few variations for Soviets, including one big surprise 830 Fieldgrey as the uniform colour! Bolt Action Miniatures had a good Russian Army painting guide including Vallejo colours but since they were bought by Warlord Games it seems to have disappeared.

Item	Colour	BF Vallejo	BAM Vallejo
Helmet and Vehicles	Green	894 Russian Green	967 Olive Green
Infantry Tunic, Breeches, Cap (if worn)	Field Drab/Khaki	880 Khaki Grey or the unlikely 830 Fieldgrey !!!!	912 Tan Yellow
Cap band			Infantry Cavalry 925 Blue Artillery 909 Vermillion
Boots	Black	950 Black	950 Black or 822 German Black Brown
Belts and webbing	Dark Yellow/Khaki Drill	983 Flat Earth or 978 Dark Yellow	822 German Black Brown
Packs, bags, pouches etc		821 German Camo Beige	924 Russian Uniform or 821 German Camo Beige or 916 Sand Yellow or 912 Tan Yellow or 847 Dark Sand
Great Coat / Coat Roll		874 USA Tan Earth	888 Olive Grey
Metal e.g. Guns barrels		863 Gunmetal Grey
Wood e.g. Gun stocks		875 Beige Brown or 846 Mahogany Brown
Faces and hands		955 Flat Flesh
Tank Camouflage	Earth Brown	983 Flat Earth or 913 Yellow Ochre