Post by Tuuka Gustafson on Apr 29, 2011 12:03:56 GMT -5
The Hiki Winter Weight tunic (wool) is overall pretty decent for it's price but it has a glaring defect; the buttons.
I have no idea who designed these buttons but they are atrocious. The tin/steel repro buttons more resemble an Aztec god then the Finnish lion and must be replaced. In order to replace them you will need either original (or GOOD quality reproduction) brass, zinc or tin buttons. Postwar Plastic buttons also are a good substitute but require a bit more work then the metal varieties to look right.
First, you'll need 12 original or repro buttons. These buttons will come in 2 sizes; 10 large buttons for the front and pockets and 2 smaller medium sized buttons for the shoulderboard straps. The large buttons are easy to acquire but the smaller buttons can be a bit harder to find and can be substituted with the even smaller cap front buttons (which are relatively ubiquitous).
The sizes of the buttons are as follows:
Large: 22 mm
Medium: 17.8 mm
Small (cap buttons): 15mm
You'll need to remove all the Hikishop buttons and replace them with your reproductions. As mentioned earlier, if you can't find any of the medium sized buttons for the shoulderboard straps, you can use cap buttons. Don't worry if they are all different colors or materials. We'll deal with that in a bit.
Note: Buttons during the war deteriorated in quality as the campaign went on. During the Pre-war period and the Winter War it was common for uniforms to have polished brass buttons. This was discontinued during the Winter War and most were painted over in a grey color. During the Continuation War, material shortages led to production of buttons in zinc, tin and steel and these were also painted over.
Before you sew the buttons on you'll need to paint them. If you are doing a Winter War impression, you can either try to polish them brass (should all your buttons BE brass) or you can paint them that color. I suggest using brass colored acrylic paint since it is easy to acquire and easy to work with. You'll need to dip the buttons into a sealent in order to prevent water from causing problems later on and also add a hint of durabilty to the buttons. You'll find that when the buttons wear they will do so realistically. In order to dull the shine of the brass (and apply some realistic wear) I suggest using shoe polish to darken the buttons. Using a slight amount of polish, darken each button and then whip them off. Apply this same technique to Continuation War impressions using a dark panzer grey acrylic paint. For the grey paint the shoe polish is optional. Once they are dry sew them to your tunic.
I would also suggest using German reproduction belt hooks to replace the brass hooks Hikishop sends. These are more durable and will stand up better to use in the field. I will post another How-to about the proper installation of these hooks at a later date.
Before:
After:
I have no idea who designed these buttons but they are atrocious. The tin/steel repro buttons more resemble an Aztec god then the Finnish lion and must be replaced. In order to replace them you will need either original (or GOOD quality reproduction) brass, zinc or tin buttons. Postwar Plastic buttons also are a good substitute but require a bit more work then the metal varieties to look right.
First, you'll need 12 original or repro buttons. These buttons will come in 2 sizes; 10 large buttons for the front and pockets and 2 smaller medium sized buttons for the shoulderboard straps. The large buttons are easy to acquire but the smaller buttons can be a bit harder to find and can be substituted with the even smaller cap front buttons (which are relatively ubiquitous).
The sizes of the buttons are as follows:
Large: 22 mm
Medium: 17.8 mm
Small (cap buttons): 15mm
You'll need to remove all the Hikishop buttons and replace them with your reproductions. As mentioned earlier, if you can't find any of the medium sized buttons for the shoulderboard straps, you can use cap buttons. Don't worry if they are all different colors or materials. We'll deal with that in a bit.
Note: Buttons during the war deteriorated in quality as the campaign went on. During the Pre-war period and the Winter War it was common for uniforms to have polished brass buttons. This was discontinued during the Winter War and most were painted over in a grey color. During the Continuation War, material shortages led to production of buttons in zinc, tin and steel and these were also painted over.
Before you sew the buttons on you'll need to paint them. If you are doing a Winter War impression, you can either try to polish them brass (should all your buttons BE brass) or you can paint them that color. I suggest using brass colored acrylic paint since it is easy to acquire and easy to work with. You'll need to dip the buttons into a sealent in order to prevent water from causing problems later on and also add a hint of durabilty to the buttons. You'll find that when the buttons wear they will do so realistically. In order to dull the shine of the brass (and apply some realistic wear) I suggest using shoe polish to darken the buttons. Using a slight amount of polish, darken each button and then whip them off. Apply this same technique to Continuation War impressions using a dark panzer grey acrylic paint. For the grey paint the shoe polish is optional. Once they are dry sew them to your tunic.
I would also suggest using German reproduction belt hooks to replace the brass hooks Hikishop sends. These are more durable and will stand up better to use in the field. I will post another How-to about the proper installation of these hooks at a later date.
Before:
After:
