Battle Dress Material

[Shiny]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a bit of help with a display I'm working on.

I want to get some battle dress type material to put behind the badges that would have been worn on that (shoulder titles etc) but am struggling to find some.

I have been told I should buy a pair of battle dress trousers and cut them up but it seems wrong to do that.

Has anyone done anything similar and if so where did you get the material?

Thanks for the help,

Michael

[Tigerlily]

I think your after wool serge, I don't think it will be spectacularly cheap but you should be able to find someone online that sell's it by the metre.

Alli

[Bill A]

Hi Michael, It has been suggested to find an old great coat and cut it up.

[JerryBB]

The post war 49 BD trousers should be cheap to find and not really collectible, though perhaps one day they will be! There are 1000 of pairs out there, and there are always lots on ebay.
Maybe a member has a ratty old pair for you.

Originally Posted by Shiny

Hi All,

I'm looking for a bit of help with a display I'm working on.

I want to get some battle dress type material to put behind the badges that would have been worn on that (shoulder titles etc) but am struggling to find some.

I have been told I should buy a pair of battle dress trousers and cut them up but it seems wrong to do that.

Has anyone done anything similar and if so where did you get the material?

Thanks for the help,

Michael

[Tigerlily]

Originally Posted by JBBOND

The post war 49 BD trousers should be cheap to find and not really collectible, though perhaps one day they will be! There are 1000 of pairs out there, and there are always lots on ebay.
Maybe a member has a ratty old pair for you.

And probably a lot cheaper than buying new wool fabric. Just having a very quick look, £35 per metre, I'd go with vandalising an old pair of trousers

[JerryBB]

I had a quick look on ebay and even 49 pattern bd trousers seem to have suddenly become much more expensive than from just a few years back.

FAD uniforms are still cheap and would look as nice I think?

[54Bty]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Hi All,

I'm looking for a bit of help with a display I'm working on.

I want to get some battle dress type material to put behind the badges that would have been worn on that (shoulder titles etc) but am struggling to find some.

I have been told I should buy a pair of battle dress trousers and cut them up but it seems wrong to do that.

Has anyone done anything similar and if so where did you get the material?

Thanks for the help,

Michael

There is a cheap surplus store in Darlington, in fact there were two both on the same road.

Marc

[Peter Brydon]

Whilst I display most of my badges on red velour fablon material attached to mount board, I do mount some ( mainly cloth ) badges directly onto a khaki ( ish ) coloured mount board. It is available in a variety of colours including one which is similar to the colour of battledress material ( although even the colour of that can vary considerably ).

The card in the picture is rather light in colour but has the advantage that cloth badges with dark khaki backgrounds stand out.


It also has another advantage in that that you can cut it to any size and you don't have the problem of seams in the material from trousers or bd blouses ending up on the display area.

P.B.

[ASR142]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Hi All,

I'm looking for a bit of help with a display I'm working on.

I want to get some battle dress type material to put behind the badges that would have been worn on that (shoulder titles etc) but am struggling to find some.

I have been told I should buy a pair of battle dress trousers and cut them up but it seems wrong to do that.

Has anyone done anything similar and if so where did you get the material?

Thanks for the help,

Michael

how big an aear are you trying to fill ? steve

[MH331]

Jerry,

Large size 49pattern sell very well. I am told living history buffs turn them into WW2 pattern. Small sizes still struggle.

regards

Mark

Originally Posted by JBBOND

I had a quick look on ebay and even 49 pattern bd trousers seem to have suddenly become much more expensive than from just a few years back.

FAD uniforms are still cheap and would look as nice I think?

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by MH331

Jerry,

Large size 49pattern sell very well. I am told living history buffs turn them into WW2 pattern. Small sizes still struggle.

regards

Mark

I am sure you are correct Mark.

I'll have to see what sizes I have of them in the wardrobe where I store all such uniform items that do not get displayed.

I wonder if Belgian or Greek BD trousers have gone the same way?

[Shiny]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the comments and advice, I'm now wondering if I got hold of a modern pair of No 2 Dress trousers if that would do instead, I'm not worried about cutting up something like that.

Steve,

I'm not exactly sure yet, probably something like the size of a sheet of A3 in total.

I'm attaching a photo of a previous display I've made to demonstrate the sort of thing I have in mind.

I have a selection of WW1 to modern day mixture of cloth shoulder titles and metal cap badges I want to frame. The various parts will go on raised areas in the same way as in the photo.

I was thinking the modern patches could go on a square of DPM while the WW1 and WW2 could go on the khaki material. The cap badges could maybe go on the khaki or beret coloured material depending on how it was worn.

Thanks again,

Michael

[arvp]

1949 pattern blouses in unissued condition and in small sizes are still available at reasonable prices. As has been said, 1949 pattern BD is now collectable in its own right - it hasn't been made for almost 50 years!
Greatcoat material is not the same as BD cloth, being of different colour and texture.
I do have some oddments of BD serge if you let me know how much you need.
Allen

[Mike_2817]

I do have a few display boards with cloth backings in DPM, Desert, No2 material and MTP normally from damaged jackets to get the large back area, but as yet not a Khaki backing but I have been looking for some myself, and I came across this company.

I do not know how much they charge but Hainsworth Cloth produce it for the trade and TV companies etc:

http://www.hainsworth.co.uk/apparel/...true-heritage/

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by arvp

I do have some oddments of BD serge if you let me know how much you need.
Allen

Hi Allen, I think probably about the size of a sheet of A3 paper would do if you have some spare. Thanks a lot.

Michael