Tony

Hello,

Any chance of more pics? And what's the date on the liner and shell?

I've recently started buying MKII helmets and have come across so many fake and post 1945 paint jobs that it's sort of put me off, it's getting so that you really have to know what you're looking for. At the moment I have 3 army, a few civil defence, a MKI* and one Canadian.

Tony

If it helps when selling, the ASM was for Colin Anthony Webb RAAF and as mentioned above, $40 is probably about right unless someone has his Pacific Star and wants to reunite his medals is willing to pay more.

http://www.defence.gov.au/Medals/Imperial/WWII/Australia-Service-Medal-1939-1945.asp

Here’s a tin I picked up last month and gave to Steve to paint, he’s given it a cracking paint job and I’m really pleased with it.

Mate, you’re bloody good with a paint brush. Thanks for the fantastic work.

They won't stick in hot weather unless they're made from a different material than A$ or the SG$ however, I've had problems separating 'brand new' A$ notes so it isn't impossible for them to stick. Give them a go in the washing machine and it's all good

In case you're interested, he joined the RFC 20/7/16, arrived in France 7/12/16 and died while on leave according to his record, in Huddersfield military hospital.

Tony

The Stars pictured above going by the ribbons, are 1939-1945 Star, Atlantic Star with ACE clasp, Italy Star and Africa Star.

Naming on Stars/WWII medals points to South African, Australian or Indian units (may be one or two other Commonwealth countries too) unless privately named by the recipient.

The value of any Empire/Commonwealth medal is in the research, if killed, then where? If wounded where? Unit/rank/name etc.

You could be sitting on a lot of money especially if the highly faked Air Crew Europe Stars are genuine. See here for comparisons http://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/britishguide/aircreweurpestarcopyfake.htm

Tony

Was your wife expecting to see it?

I've never noticed the unit abbreviation RM before, I thought it was always RMLI.

I should add that I only have one RMLI medal group so am not knowledgeable when it comes to their unit abbreviations.

John, if you're interested there's a service record for 3007 Thomas Flatley at the UK national archives http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7863674

The linked page states transferred to the RNAS in 1916 so I had a look at Find My Past and came across a RAF service record to Thomas Flatley who joined the RFC (RNAS was left blank) in 1916 and whose prior service was in a RM medical unit. I can't say if it's the same man, only a comparison of both records will give confirmation but if you'd like the RAF service record give me a shout.

Tony

Mate, well done!

Mate, not quite complete, it's missing a liner but the prongs are all there should I find one.

It's good to see I'm not alone in having a thing for the odd French tin hat.

Here’s a 1915 Adrian I picked up a couple of weeks ago in France, when I first looked at it I thought the badge prongs were partially snapped off and was going to replace them with a spare badge I have but on closer inspection a few days later, I realised the flaming bomb is all good so it’s staying as is.

I like the French Mle. 15 and believe you can never have enough of them, no matter the condition they're in.

Makes you wonder what else is missed and I don't just mean militaria in Germany.

Jock mate, where's this skip where you find all your bits?

I have a set like that, I used them at work for stamping chassis numbers only I had to stop as 6mm stamps were deemed too small.

The diaries are free to view on UK Ancestry this weekend (26/8/16 - 29/8/16) as are other Brit records.

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60779

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60380

8 hours ago, Robin Lumsden said:

Wonderful work !!

 

Yes.

I knew I made the right choice

Don't forget to show the bottle when it's done.

How long do you think it'd take to paint it Steve compared with the time spent on a dazzling, attractive patriotic Mle. 15?

I like the homemade bar.

If you mean does it look authentic I’d say the way the box is made seems too cheap and flimsy looking for something made back in the 40s however, the labels look the part.

As for the helmet well, I’m not a 3^rd Reich collector and can’t tell a modern made WWII style German helmet from an original, let alone all the ins and outs of repro liners, chinstraps and rivets. It looks good but I don’t think it’s worth what he was asking. I suppose the price depends in the artist’s hourly rate.

The only thing that struck me about the paint is that it doesn’t look thick enough when comparing it to chips in Commonwealth and French WWII helmets. 

And WAF...... I got as far as the 3^rd post and remembered why I haven’t been there since joining this forum. It wouldn't surprise me if there was more fake German gear out there than original anyway.

...........

Pour yourself a cup of concrete mate

13 minutes ago, Spasm said:

It's a Delaunay-Belleville. The French Rolls-Royce of it's time. Maybe a 1913 model. Probably why the French are having their photos taken with it.  

Clever clogs

A similar model is here https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Delaunay-Belleville_1914-1917.JPG

A better link http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2107+++++322+

Cracking pic but whoever put that flag in the way needs a slap.

I've just been looking at old Bugatti photos and the grills on them don't look as round as that pictured above.

18 hours ago, Spasm said:

So, I'm figuring that if this is likely to be a bullet hit from Tommy chancing his arm then I should leave the crack alone and not weld it up as it's part of it's story. Or am I making something up here? Any steel plate hitting experience out there?  

I'd say leave it as is too.

A mate had one of these with what he thought was bullet damage, the dent was a few mm deep, no cracks and nicely rounded but not being there at the time means you can only guess at what hit it. I bet whatever it was, it made the bloke behind the plate jump for a second.

Thanks Alex and thanks for the tip as well. I'm using a programme (PS Pro x4) on the laptop to do the colouring and I think my main problem is just not understanding exactly what I can do with it. I've coloured the bike now but still haven't attempted the background.

That SS Generalmajor had an unfortunate surname but I bet no one laughed in his face.