new to soviet scales of issue

[KevinH]

Zdrastvoortya Kamerads!
I've stepped outside of the realm of the DDR and just purchased a lot of soviet insignia and an EM summer service tunic. Naturally I have a few questions. Please excuse me if these are simplistic and/or already somewhere on the forum.

1. I have 2 sizes of collar tabs. Some smaller more dull black felt types and some darker black with stitched edges. Can anyone tell me what the difference is?

2. I also have a ton of what I assume are collar tab pins. half look like a propeller with a red star imposed over it (which i assume is air force?) and a star surrounded by a wreath (which I assume is Army?) some are subdued and some are not. Would either of these go with black collar tabs and boards?

3. Lastly, how exactly are the boards attached to the tunic? are they simply sewn around the edges? Also does one have to choose the proper length of board to match the shoulder width? (the boards seem to vary in length.)

many thanks!

[STEBALIN]

Hello Kevin,

First of all, it would be good to post pictures of your items so answers to your questions can be more accurate. But I´ll do my best to answer you.

1. The size of your tabs depend if they were worn on everyday/service tunic or overcoat. The large ones with the stitched edges are for overcoat. Black collartabs were usually made of velvet, and were worn on all kind of uniforms belonging to that branch of service (tanks, artillery, engineers, signals, chemical troops, construction, etc.)

2. I assume you refer to the air force mechanic branch wings. These are a propeller, wings and an engine with a superimposed red star.
Star and wreath is army/motorized infantry/rifles (you can find them by any of these names). And unfortunately none fits your black collar tabs. airforce mechanic goes on light blue tabs, and the army can go on red (infantry) or maroon (interior troops).

3. There are the sew-on types and slip-on types of shoulderboards. The first ones are sewn onto the shoulders, and they must (or at least should) match length.

Hope it helps.
Esteban

[KevinH]

Thanks Esteban! You pretty much answered all my questions. Here are some photos from the auction for good measure anyway.




Sorry I don't have a better image of the collar tab devices but since those won't work with the boards I have anyway I guess there is not much point.

One last question: Am I correct in my guess that the piece of yellow ribbon pictured is used to denote rank by being sewn to the shoulder boards?
Thanks again,
Kevin

[STEBALIN]

Am I correct in my guess that the piece of yellow ribbon pictured is used to denote rank by being sewn to the shoulder boards?

Yes! You´re right.
You have a lot of CA shoulderboards. You can leave them as they are and have private shoulderboards, or adding one, two or three stripes (corporal, jr. sergeant and sergeant)according to how many pieces you can cut of the stripe. Play with your stuff!

BTW, the green hexagonal CA shoulderboards are for enlisted shirt. These can be slip-ons or sew-ons. They are attached just like east german boards.

[Kozlov]

If the collar tabs are velvet and not felt, then they are for tankisti.

Remember black arm of service colour is for "technical troops", only the metal device on the collar tab tells you exactly which sort of technical troops (tanks, engineers, artillery, signals, engineers, chemical defence, construction troops, pipeline troops)

If you have an arm of service device with a red star in it, its almost certainly signals.

To sew on the boards, use big tack stitches - not millions of little ones. About 6-8 big tacks should be enough for a long edge - just catch it where the felt overhangs the cardboard stiffener - will save your fingers like this. Use same colour thread as the board. There are short and long boards, longer ones are for greatcoats.... make sure it matches the length of pre-sewn on subdued ones already on the jacket...

Good luck Comrade "dyx", I'll be round to steal all your good gear and food later