Most 28mm artillery crews are dress in summer uniforms.
Being a gunner is rather a active job & in summer months can get very hot & demanding for the gun crews.
With this been said I think it would be a good idea for a manufacture of 28mm minis to produce field gun crews in rolled up shirt sleeves or even, dare I say it... topless!
I would also suggest two sets. The first wearing puttees & the second set wearing
jack boots. (or maybe one box with both).
If WHA ever got round to making such a range I would also suggest that these figures could be probuced headless. Heads could be used from the WGA infantry ranges.
Interesting idea.
Jack boots or low boots with putees does indeed cover just about everybody.
Were "collarless" undershirts as pictured common to all powers or were there variations?
I suppose bare chests would solve that problem. Was that something done in the 1st World War? Serious question. Societal norms and standards of military discipline change.
I would suggest including bare heads in the kit. It feels better to have a "complete" kit. If the end user swaps in other heads with nation appropriate headgear he gets some extra bare heads which are always useful.
EDIT: I assumed you were talking about WW1 crews because of the picture. What period are you trying to cover with this kit?
The major combatants, France, Germany, Great Britain and the Commonwealth all wore collar -less undershirts. I couldn't tell you what the Russians and smaller nations were issued.
I think that the leg wraps and collarless shirts would cover most everyone involved, except for the U.S.
@JTam Some good points made! I can't recall seeing any photos of bare chested gunners from WW1. I think you're right. It wouldn't be the done thing to strip down to the waist in the early part of the 20th century.
I would stick to collarless shirts. If you want collars, green stuff modelling putty would do the trick.
I forgot all about bare heads. Good call!
Also, braces (suspenders, I think they're called in the US) hanging down from the waist.
Objection!! Title is misleading! 😁
Looks like Russian troops in WW1 wore collarless undershirts as well:
![](https://xenforum.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/wargames-atlantic/97tlk2a.jpg)
@JTam Evidence! Here's a photo of a British crew of a 6 inch 26cwt howitzer all shirtless. No doubt thinking that they were all having a jolly on Scarborough beach...
Very unseemly!!
@Christopher Tyrer
Boom!
Out of curiosity, do you know which theater/where that is?
I would definitely say Belgium.
I went with a friend a couple of years ago to Waterloo & Ligny and we did a lot of walking around Belgium fields. They are very flat & open compared to English fields but the ground at Waterloo is very deceptive. Walking it, you can understand Napoleon's decisions on the day.
@Christopher Tyrer Interesting photo: They are not in the UK, as they are wearing respirators. The IWM says it's 1918, so Western Front is most likely. NOTE: They are wearing neither jackboots nor puttees.
Suspenders/braces worn down would look cool. I'm not sure I would serve a gun with suspenders flopping about however.
@Timothy Peterson I didn't say that they were in the UK (back then it was called Great Britain & the servicemen would have called themselves either English, Irish, Welsh or Scottish. We very rarely call ourselves British, if at all). I said that they would most probably be in Belgium.
Yes, you are right. They are not wearing Jack boots. British armed forces never did. They are wearing foul wear overhauls. Why they are wearing them in the heat of summer, I will never know.