Smock Rank Insignia

[John Hodgin]

Specail rank

Sorry for the previous mis-spellings, in a rush. Willi, I'm not saying they aren't good, but a few remind me of the repros..

[Willi Z.]

Hi John,

The last 3 pics are all of the same Oberst insignia.......I thought the picture did not take, so I did it a few times. If you look at them all you can note several variations to the Grünmeliert fabric....running the full spectrum of color variations. Same goes for the thread that stitched the border. Some have the olive, green and tan threads...others have the olive, blue and tan threads

I have yet never seen a good copy of the Grünmeliert fabric. No one can do it........it is just to expensive to make. The various companies that are now making repro green step-ins just can't get it right. I do know that maybe some pre-war Polizei fabric may still exist. But, wouldn't you think we would have seen these repros on the market of the rank insignia?

Let's chat via email on this subject..........will have a closer look.

Willi

[John Hodgin]

Hi Willi,

I may have old photos of the repro step in. If so I'll do digital copies and mail them to you, perhaps by the weekend. The fabric was superb. And I have seen rank that I know was reproduction, also on this fabric. Going to post some non Fj rank on Gene's uniform thread later. No time now.

Best,
John

[Gene]

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[Gene]

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[John Hodgin]

Very nice Gene. I'm guessing that Ian's rank is on a similar backing.

My Generalleutnant is a single, though I know where it's mate is.
Regards,
John

[Willi Z.]

Yes, very nice Gene! That is not your standard Grünmeliert fabric, but I have seen a couple of green step-in smocks made from that fabric. 2 colors of green thread in a 3 to 1 ratio. On one smock the green color quickly faded to a tan color, but you could see inside the pockets, etc, where the original color was still present.

Willi

[Infanteer]

Can someone show the reverse of one of these rank badges as I have never seen one in person before. They appear to have some type of backing material. Is this the case?

Cheers,

Steve