Rank Insignia and Uniforms Thread

All Texacoran Marines...
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I have to command you on your line work and composition, it just keeps improving every time you post something.

On a less technical side, I take it the officer leading the charge is a general based on the bandolier ? This would mean then that the texacoran have readapted CSA insignias ?

Also, I assume that the flag closer to the viewer is the national flag, does this make the grey one a unit flag ? In regard to this flag, it appear to have a fleur-de-lys on the upper hoist and based on the length, about 7-8 stars along the blue band. The badge on the front of the poncho of the officer leading the charge appears to have the same design but with only 3 stars, are many texacoran emblems based on such variations ?
 
I have to command you on your line work and composition, it just keeps improving every time you post something.

On a less technical side, I take it the officer leading the charge is a general based on the bandolier ? This would mean then that the texacoran have readapted CSA insignias ?

Also, I assume that the flag closer to the viewer is the national flag, does this make the grey one a unit flag ? In regard to this flag, it appear to have a fleur-de-lys on the upper hoist and based on the length, about 7-8 stars along the blue band. The badge on the front of the poncho of the officer leading the charge appears to have the same design but with only 3 stars, are many texacoran emblems based on such variations ?

The officer is a major, commanding the Third Acadien Regiment. The three wreathed stars on the cloak is not a rank insignia, just an embellishing device accorded to all commissioned officers. The single star on the collar tabs and shoulder tabs are the real rank insignia. The rank insignia are going to be a hybrid of US and CSA, but the Austrian knots and branch of service colors are going to be purely CSA.

The flag in front is the national standard, and the flag behind is the regimental color. The regimental badge tends to be a much simplified or stylized version of the regimental battle flag.
 

Deleted member 108228

I need help making unique separate Einzatsgruppen ranks. Any tips on it?
 
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I’ve seen a few of your posts now and these are just amazing! Great job, they look really good. As someone interested in getting into drawing of some sort myself, do you have any tips or tricks? Also, what sort of program or equipment do you use to make these?
 
I’ve seen a few of your posts now and these are just amazing! Great job, they look really good. As someone interested in getting into drawing of some sort myself, do you have any tips or tricks? Also, what sort of program or equipment do you use to make these?
I used mouse and keyboard with GIMP 2.8 image editing software to make the illustrations, but I do not recommend this software any more. Even the most updated build is intolerably unstable and no longer well-supported by the developer, so these days it's much better to pirate Adobe Photoshop or simply use the same Inkscape software that most people here use for maps and flags.

Unfortunately I am not sure I can offer much in the way of edification for digital illustration, as I am still amateur learning by trial and error myself. If you already know about "layers" in image editing software from mapmaking, that is probably the greatest time saver for any digital art. You can draw the line art for various foreground or background elements on separate layers and add the coloring on another set of layers, so you can correct lines and coloring independently. You can also modify opacity for different layers to achieve some useful effects, like a lower opacity layer of line art will appear more faded and indistinct, which can be used to reproduce atmospheric hazing effect on distant objects.

If you are going to be illustrating a lot of scenes with human figures, it is probably useful to have the basic ratios of human anatomy on hand so you can spot check and avoid disproportionate figures. IE, head to height ratio 1:8, head to torso ratio 1:3, forearm to foot ratio 1:1 etc
 
I need help making unique separate Einzatsgruppen ranks. Any tips on it?

If they were separated from the SS, the Einzatsgruppen would probably have some sort of official cover job so anything too overtly "death squad" is doubtful. One possibility would be to have them presented as a type of gendarmerie with a vaguely defined specialisation. In that case, their titles might be the same or similar to those of the army and their insignia, for example an "Oberleutnant der Einzatsgruppen" would wear 1 pip on a company officer epaulette.

If you want them to retain a connection with other NSDAP organisations, they might continue to wear collar insignia but in a different colour combination than the SS. for example, black bars, pips & leaves on a pale grey background. in term of titles, they would retain the "[name of grouping type]+führer" naming scheme but with different grouping names such as "bereich" or "Kontingent".

One last possibility is to give them a slightly innocuous appearance to partly disguise their actions by adopting a similar scheme to civilian organisations like the forestry service or postal service.

This would mean that the Einzatsgruppen soldier would equivalent of the following waffen-ss ranks would wear the following (obvious using different names):

Bewerber to Rottenführer: 0-4 silver pips in a row on a plain dark grey collar patch

Unterscharführer to Scharführer: 1-2 silver pips in a row on a dark grey collar patch with a thin pale grey edging

Oberscharführer to Sturmscharführer: 1-3 silver pips in a row on a dark grey collar patch with 2 thin pale grey edging

Untersturmführer to Hauptsturmführer 1-3 silver pips in a row on a dark grey collar patch with a wide silver braid edging

Sturmbannführer to Oberführer: 1-4 silver pips in a row on a dark grey collar patch with a wide silver braid edging, 2 of its corners being decorated by silver oak leaves

Brigadeführer to Oberst-Gruppenführer: 1-4 silver pips in a row on a dark grey collar patch with a wide silver braid edging, all 4 of its corners being decorated by silver oak leaves

Reichsführer-SS: 4 gold pips in a row on a dark grey collar patch with gold edging, all 4 of its corners being decorated by gold oak leaves
 
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Although the kosmodesantnik veterans of the Kommersant's elite Fleet Security Brigades are still colloquially referred to as "bluejackets" by their traditional Texacoran Marine foes, since the Great Dust War all Desantnik rifle companies stationed in the equatorial regions and the northern hemisphere territories that lie beyond have been attired in uniforms of a more practical khaki shade, as the traditional blue battle jackets and head covers made easy targets for the Afrikander sharpshooters of the Orbitaaler republics.
 
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