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    Les

    For Deletion
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    Everything posted by Les

    1. Looks like a 1920's made piece, based on the design of the tail-feathers. Check out Andreas S-I's website (medalnet). He has wartime examples there, and you can compare the feathers to see the difference. Is it one that you are considering?
    2. Yep, a nice ribbon. All of the S&L made versions I've seen lack ribbons, or have ones that are post-WWII. There are a few silver S&L made pieces out there, and IMO, if there were any made by the firm during the Third Reich era, these are the most likely candidates. I know of someone who contacted S&L enquiring about any records in the firm's files. S&L responded saying they had no information on them and couldn't confirm anything one way or the other. This one has angling on the lower arms of the cross that looks like it may have been shaped (by hand?) to give the appearance of wear. If you have access to a decent microscope, look to see if there are striations to run parallel to the arms, rather than sideways. When worn a cross would swing side to side, and any wear patterns would be horizontal, not vertical. Side by side swinging would dome the enamel and also leave a slight slope away from the center of the arms towards the outer edges. I have a S&L in it's original case, with oaks and a ribbon lacking a center-stripe. S&L didn't make a special ribbon for the oaks. If anyone is really interested I can supply photos. I'd consider selling it if anyone is interested and sends a PM to enquire.
    3. In the aviation group are a small number of observers who were awarded the PLM. Leutnant Hans Georg Horn was a former infantry officer who became a flying observer in 1915, and in 1916-1917 specialized in low level ground attacks from the back-seat of a Junkers all metal mono-wing. He was decorated with the PlM in December 1917, and on the same day his pilot was decorated with the GMVK. Horn's stuff is in a private collection. ;)
    4. Check out cemeteries and....places that make gravestones and similar monuments. I've come across several items that were not legally "dewated" such as sled mounted MG08, a German medium Minenwerfer on it's travelling mount, and several of the smaller versions that survived the WWII scrap drives. They are out there....
    5. Today is the 100th anniversary of the day when the Easter Rising of 1916 took place. I wonder if any of those were used during the event.
    6. Les

      M16 Camo

      Nice job! Next time you want to remove chrome, there's a better way than the abrasive method. I've used this method more than once. Muriatic acid, the same stuff that is dumped into pools and used to clean concrete, removes chrome fast and much easier than any other process. A gallon of the stuff is inexpensive....about the cost of two or three beers depending on brand, and where you buy your beer. If you do use muriatic acid, do it outside, wear old clothes, rubber gloves if you have them, eye protection, and do not breath the greenish yellow fumes. Afterwards wash whatever you strip the chrome from, well with a garden hose, and neutralize with good old baking soda. Wash your hands and any exposed skin also.
    7. I have a Singer 29, with a very similar base type. The head on the Singer looks like the one below. Everything is either cast iron, or machined steel. It's heavy, built to last, and getting harder to find.
    8. Mickey, the spear the wee one has in hand isn't Masai. Masair spears and swords have a characteristically shape with a long narrow appearance and flared ears close to the socket. The one in the photo looks more like some of the ones made in the northern part of Kenya, such as the Turkana, who liked leaf shaped spear heads. Peter, the "three" piece design with a metal head, and metal socketed butt, aren't necessarily ceremonial. The metal butt/tang socketed part was to keep the shaft from splitting when the spear was jammed into the ground, and then levelled at charging critters such as lions, etc. Without looking at the piece in hand, I can't say for certain what the flared section is all about. It may have been used to cover up a break which was welded over or re-enforced. Masai (and East African) spears prior to 1900 used to have very small metal spear heads and butts with long wooden handles. As metal became more common in the 20th century, the length of the metal started getting longer, and the wooden shaft smaller. Also, the early local iron made pieces have soft metal parts that bend very easily. After WWII, there's a noticeably change in the size of the metal, and also it's hardness. The attached photo is a typical post WWII Masai spear head shape, and also seen on Masai swords.
    9. Salt in southern African traditional societies was a scarce and valuable commodity, and generally not used for tanning. Hides, if tanned, were processed using either vegetable or fat tanning methods. Hair loss even on newly made items is commonplace. The shield shape on the one you've shown is not limited to the Zulu's only. Other tribal groups in southern Africa also used the same exact type of shield. Also, during the Mpfecane period, Zulu splinter groups broke away from the Zulu and moved north into what is now Zimbabwe, parts of Zambia and into southern Tanzania. "Traditional" items associated with hunting and warfare, have always been hot tourist items since the 1950's. "Hollywood" has also bought (and had made) items for use in a range of films, not to mention "Zulu" in the early 1960's, and "Zulu Dawn" almost twenty years later. Props from those two films have even become collector items in some circles. Shields originally had a stick or pole inserted through the laced leather loops on the back. These are almost always missing on shields, period or made-for-the-tourist, because the size of the shield was awkward, and when removed, the thing could be rolled up for easier transportation or shipping home. Check out this link: http://hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.com/2011/10/costumes-and-props-from-zulu Look towards the bottom of the article and note the exact construction method as the one you've shown, used for a shield used as a promotional give-away prop for "Zulu" in 1964. Dating when items were made is not easy, and all to often based on guesswork and thinking something "looks old" or that construction methods are the same. Sometimes there are clues, and construction methods do change over time. One item I always look for is whether the iron used on swords, spear heads, etc, is truly hand forged iron, and not steel which was not available in traditional African societies who smelted, and forged their own iron before the spread of western made items changed their technology. Hand made iron takes time and a lot of labor to produce, resulting in traditional iron objects such as spear heads being smaller than those made after the WWI era when steel became plentiful and traditional iron making began dying out. With leather, dating is almost impossible without some documentation that comes with the item. It's very much a seat of the pants type thing at times.
    10. The one on ebay has Philips-screw fasteners, for supports and to attach the hanger hook. Those fasteners weren't developed until after WWI. Chris, re the preservation attempts, try not to use anything that forms a hard layer on the surface. It seals whatever is in the wood and metal inside, and doesn't necessarily stop rust from eating it's way out. If there's surface rust, remove it, then apply a surface treatment to stop any moisture from getting to the metal and wood. If you can find a good hard paste floor wax, use that. Let everything set outside in the sun on a warm day, which drives moisture out, then apply the wax and buff it out and don't put it on too thick. It's a reversible process that doesn't f-it up the way a hard coated surface of an oil compound can do. The nice thing about a floor wax coat is it can be removed later by putting the thing out in the sun and buffing it away. Once it's done, keep it where the temperature and humidity remains relatively even throughout the year so the wood doesn't swell or crack.
    11. Bit more on these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_Men
    12. Wow! I've seen those from period photos patriotic rallies and events. People offered a small amount of money donated to the war effort, and were then given a nail to hammer into a wooden iron cross. Really nice acquisition!
    13. Eric, Thanks for the heads-up on the thread. I read through it, and followed the link to the helmet site where the "decal" is discussed in detail with extremely good photos. The helmet site thread is straight-forward and isn't all that difficult to follow through to the obvious conclusion. Apparently a single individual has been responsible for making a painted on "decal" over many years. I'm surprised it took years for the item to get de-bunked. The helmet site article gets the use of XRF off of center, claiming it can't be used for authentication. It was never intended for that purpose. XRF can tell you materials composition within limits, and in the case of a decal or paint is capable of picking up paint composition under the decal, and then giving a reading that combines both. There's no problem with using XRF technology, as long as the person getting the results is aware of testing issues, and understands how to properly interpret the results. XRF applied to any material produced over more than one or two years, and in different batches can and will not usually be identical from batch to batch, because mixing materials and paints is not as much a science as it is making due with what's on hand and wartime shortages manufacturers having to make do with less than what "spec" calls for.
    14. Does anyone know for certain what the size markings on pre-1918 tunics specifically indicate? (The WWII era system is different.) For example, on the left is a single number (i.e., "42"), then to the right are two other sets of numbers, for example, 96 over 86, and then 45 over 64. Does the first single number indicate neck size, and the others size ranges for the chest, and then for whatever the next group is? If that's the case, what's the range of the last group represent?
    15. I suggest using UV glass rather than plexiglass, and displaying it flat with a mirror underneath so you can see both sides. Here's why: First, plexiglass is a petroleum based material that potentially can transfer oils to the surface of whatever it comes in contact with over time. Plexiglass is lighter than museum-grade glass, and easier to move around, but for a permanent display that won't result in damage, a glass sandwich mounted flat rather than horizontal is the best way to go. While on the subject of chemical reactions, different materials used in the construction of stuff we collect, can cause problems. Leather and brass contact can cause verdigris formation, because of the acids used in tanning leather. Based on the photos, some of the material used for the standard looks woolen, and there may be silk used as well. Wool can be kept from moths, but silk deteriorates at a constant rate that you can't do anything about, and how it's stored or displayed can affect the aging of the material. The best way to store or display almost any cloth material, is not put it on a dummy torso for a long time, because the material will start forming creases that are difficult to remove. Your idea of putting the flag in a sandwich is a good one, but again, think about the museum-level approach to using quality glass instead of plexiglass, finding one spot for it, then leaving it there for the "duration." Placing it flat, rather than upright also takes weight of the fabric and helps keep gravity and time from breaking fibres, and the start of tears and breaks. You definitely want to use UV protection to protect the colors and prevent fading. One last word of advice, is to think about climate control for the entire collection, that will keep temperature, humidity, and exposure to light, relatively constant.
    16. I did some checking and found it on-line. It can be viewed here: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006165736 Registration and use is free to everyone. I haven't tried downloading since I have a hard-bound copy.
    17. I picked up a 1930's era book titled "Fortunes in Formulas, 10,000 trade secrets, recipes and processes for home, farm and workshop" edited by Gardner Hiscox. There are thousands of methods for making what was then state of the art items such as paints, cleaning solutions, photographic solutions, and so on. Most of these items are now obsolete ways of making things. One of the interesting processes described in detail is how decals (called "decalomania") were made, first by preparing a paper with specific requirements, using a three step process of overlaid chemical compounds, then the creation of the image to be transferred, and finally, how to do the transfer itself using another set of either water, or other chemicals. The point in mentioning there was an older method of making and using decals, is how different modern decals are, compared to what was used during the WWII era, and in some cases continued on through the late 1950's and early 1960's. For those of us who are old farts, remember how -THICK- decals used on model kits from that era are? Part of the explanation for the thickness is not that the images were fragile, but the application of several layers of chemicals designed to allow the separation of the paper from the image, was related to the thickness of the image being transferred. The image could be a photo printed on a clear substrate using photographic methods, or by the printing press method. German decals of the national eagle are different from standard decals in the use of aluminium powder that is part of the chemical solution (technically called an "emulsion" which require a layered binder that allows the metallic based image to be transferred intact. This is very different from modern decals which are often something along the lines of a thin plastic like material that will break down if left to soak in water too long. Older decals often required the kerosene or something similar so the decal layered compound would separate from the paper. The section on "decalomania" doesn't discuss transferring decals onto metal, however, it does go into a lengthy (500 words or so) using ceramics as an example. One thing that both metal and ceramics have in common after a decal has been applied, is the application of a protective layer on top. With ceramics, the protective layer can be fired at low temperatures to bind and seal the layer so it isn't affected by water, limited chemical exposure, etc. The section and all of the related topics are far too long to include verbatim here. Since German helmets were painted, then baked to harden the applied factory finish, a protective layer to the decal could be added before the helmet shell was fired, and one step rather than two used. Not only that, firing paint creates a hard and often smooth surface that doesn't necessarily allow the best adhesion for a decal. Paint when applied can be pourous, and consequently, rough enough to allow decals to adhere. It would make a great deal of sense to paint the shell, apply the decal and protective finish, then fire everything, sealing the decal, and hardening the paint finish. That's not how reproduction or modern fakes are made.... Another thing about paints used before 1970, is the use of lead which was important in providing a binder that aided in blending the paint and preventing separation of the paint compounds, permitted better adhesion to metal surfaces similar to a primer, and a surface smoothing agent. The lack of lead in almost all pre-1945 paints, is something to watch out for. All in all, the book is very useful in discussing period compounds, methods of making things, etc, and comparing the same to the the present. It is a useful reference source on period methods, and as such, a tool that can be used to determine fakes versus the real thing.
    18. "Mr. Schmidt stopped smoking in september 2015." If he was using supplied oxygen, smoking in a O2 tent, or even around a tank, could have killed him and possibly others in a flash fire.
    19. Chris, that's not a GEW98. GEW's have a straight bolt, and the barrel length is much longer than the one in the photo. The bolt has been turned down, and the proportion of barrel length to the rest of the thing is shorter. He has what looks like a 1914 Stutzen "M" or "S"...and not a standard infantry rifle. He's not that tall at all.
    20. If you let something from a group go, and later regret it and want it back, it might not happen. If the new owner sells it, the owner after that might say no, ending your chances of re-uniting everything. There's also the matter of what happens if you want to sell or trade it for something else, and the ethical thing is to tell the person you split the group up. He may think you're a (fill in the blank) for doing so. Perhaps the only time I'd part with one item from a group, would be to get another item that belonged to another group I had and was added something to it that really belonged there. Whatever the decision, accept it and don't look back with any regrets.
    21. Anyone have any information on how many workers were employed by any of the medal producing firms during 1914, and the following war years? I know that kind of information would be almost impossible to get. Failing that, is there any information about how large the building/shops the firms had? Any guesses?
    22. Some of those enlisted pilots did very well during the war. One example is Willy Johnke of FAA221. During 1916 and 1917, he piloted observation and ground attack aircraft for Lt. Hans-Georg Horn. In December 1917, Johnke and Horn were both decorated by the Kaiser on the same day. Johnke was awarded the GMVK, and Horn the Pour le Merite. During the spring and summer of 1918, Johnke and Lt. Schaefer were paired up, and both shot down and killed during June 1918. If I recall correctly, Billy Bishop was given credit for that particular aerial victory. Horn was far luckier and survived the war, and then the re-run of 1939-1945.
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