Alex K

Just spotted this, must also be one He** of a cellar!, could be useful in traffic jams though Alex K

If the ribbons are moire or "Watered silk" type you would lose the effect as it is prone to water damage, they never quite look the same after anyway, perhaps just embrace the "History" Alex K

They have their post-war uses!, came across this on a vacation to Kefalonia, Itallian? Alex K

It all depends, with British medal collectors, there seems to be less of a problem with replacing medal ribbons with either "New" or contemporary medal ribbons, here new means as close to the original as possible, silk as opposed to new man-made fibres etc, I for one would obviously like to have medals with original pieces they came with, the problem here is what is meant by " Original"! does that mean the ribbon it was awarded with, the one that it was worn with or even the case of a replacement ribbon by the recipient? bearing in mind that during earlier periods medals were frequently worn and may well have had their ribbons replaced several times by the wearer themselves, European medal collectors I've found feel that it has to be either the "Original" or if that is not available, better, no ribbon, (I'm expecting to get shot down here!!),my opinion is that if it was awarded with one then it is incomplete without one, In the case of your very nice example, if they are intended for display, I would replace all of them, if kept away and hidden leave them as they are. I do replace ribbons but always keep the original if they are there, stored safely away, this gives me the option that if I ever want to dispose of a group, the ribbons they came with can be offered at the same time to a prospective buyer, interested to here other comments. regards Alex K

Hi all, a request for help, I've come across this image of Fritz Todt's Ordenskissen, there are other images but normally only show the pillow with the Deutsche Orden awarded by Hitler, the image posted shows his other pillows also, unfortunately not the best quality, I've identified all the others awards except one breast star, so anyone out there who knows or can point me in the right direction? all comments appreciated. regards Alex K Edit further info, my guesswork is directing me to this, I should but can't recognise it! any help?

That's a bit of a real difference from the asking price, Lilo, just seen your post and was about to pm you the link, seems pointless now, however if you still need it, let me know regards Alex

I would imagine not cheap, not the same but this Hawaii Order of Kamehameha I Grand Cross Star of French manufacture, in silver with gilt and enamelled center, 85 mm is for sale on a US dealers website at the moment, maybe for some sort of comparison, for 25,000USD

Hi Tony, you're not alone, we all go through that period of not understanding what you can do with the software, me included, I just experimented with different tools, effects etc, eventually you get to know what you can and cannot do, I sometimes deliberately use multiple tools and effect on the same piece of the image, the results can be suprising and effective, I personally don't use the original image but make a working copy, that way if I do Goof up (and I do) I've always got the original to try again, it's perseverance. I had PS Pro X1 and it had some useful features, I currently use my old (1996 vintage Photoshop V4.0) and it still keeps going, amazing bit of kit

Another one where the background actually contains very little detail "A family day out"

Talking of backgrounds, they can at times be a pain, lots of work and don't always add to the image, attached is a well known image, I don't normally do the more brutal side of war but in this instance the story and image is well known, "Death of an SS General" Ernst Fick, "On April 29, 1945, during the Murnau Oflag (Offizierslager) VII-A assembly, a plane with Polish insignia had appeared in the sky, circled above the assembly square, tried to signal something and went away. Soon on the road to the camp appeared American tanks. At the same time from the other side of Murnau, two German cars approached. They stopped upon noticing the tanks. Germans had been taken by surprise. SS officer in the first car opened fire from the machine gun, at the same time his companion jumped out of the vehicle. Both men were killed on a spot by the Americans (SS-Hauptsturmführer der Reserve Max Teichmann and SS-officer Widmann). The same fate met the passangers of the second car. Among the dead Germans was SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Ernst Fick (in the above picture lies at left, while at right is his driver with the rank SS-Untersturmführer) who rides in the second car. His briefcase contained the letter signed by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. It was an order to kill all 5,000 Polish POW officers encamped in Murnau! To execute this task Fick had had at his disposal an SS group in 40 armoured vehicles that started from Münich. Most likely the SS-man intended to assemble the POWs and killed them with the machine guns fire from guard's towers. After finishing off the Germans, one of the Americans' tank smashed the entrance gate and entered the assembly square. The representative of POWs welcomed American soldiers. He had addressed them in English. The commander of the tank shook his head and answered in Polish: " My name is Szewczyk, we came to liberate you". He was from Kalisz, Poland Source World War II Pictures In Details Here whilst I did the entire background, I actually cropped the image as it concentrated the view on the main subject, (Some may disagree), my apologies to anyone who finds the image disturbing, it's the only one I've done and thought before posting

Hi Tony just spotted this after a break, actually quite nice work, wouldn't worry about backgrounds too much, as they are, well backgrounds, the soldier and bike are the point of interest, my tip use a faint colour wash (Say mid/dark green) for the background, it will show up but won't be distracting, you could also give the road surface a similar faint red/yellow wash regards Alex

99% certain it's a W & L, identical to mine (Pin Back/Brass core)

That's exactly how I do mine, the difference for me is that with many enamelled pieces they are for storage and protection only. I don't sell my pieces, old cutlery boxes are a goldmine for this sort of thing, some of mine even the boxes are homemade from bits of card, old velvet and satin. Walker and Hall, I've got a few of their boxes!!

Thanks to all, just to finish off King Kalakaua, came across this image, it seems Prussian influence spread far and wide!!

Hi Andy, thanks for the comments, much appreciated, it helps if I have large good quality images to work on, this allows me to "Zoom" right in and pick out details more easily, you tend to get less "Pixilation" regards Alex

Hi Larry , thanks, when I first started colourising it was about blobbing bits of colour onto an image and hoping for the best, as times went on it became more about "Getting it as accurate as possible", this led onto actually researching the subject, which in turn became as interesting as the image itself. regards Alex

Hi Uwe, thanks for the response, on reflection,I think I may have posted a slightly confusing question, I know that the term 57er refers to certain wartime decorations which were permitted to be worn post-war without the prohibited swastika (From July 1957), I have examples of 57er RK's ek1 and ek2 made by them in my own collection, what I should have said is certain imperial decoration were also made by them "Post WW2", including the Pour le Merite, I understand this also included an examples of the imperial GK both 1914 and possibly 1870 (For the collector market?), my question should have been "Is the example I posted possibly one of those, hope this clarifies. regards Alex

Hi Pieter Thanks regards

Talking of Royalty, three more King, Father and Grandfather George VI George V Edward VII

Hi Pieter, thanks for the complement and the photos of your Crown order, amazing pieces to have in your collection and extremely rare too I believe. I will keep them on file if you don't mind. thanks Alex

Hi all, can anyone identify or comment of whether this is a Steinhaur & Luck 57er made grand cross of the Iron Cross, 3 piece construction, iron core? or a simpler copy regards Alex K

Thanks, I do have a tendency to keep looking for things until proved or otherwise, maybe I should get another hobby!

Hi just to round things off, found this image of him, which does seem to suggest that my RAO hunch may be correct

Yes nice clean cross, congrats Alex K