Mark M

Here is another Order of the Iron Crown with War Decorations and Swords. This has a different swords device and is maker marked to A. E. Kochert Wein on the reverse banner. [attachmentid=33470] [attachmentid=33471]

Wild Card Like most Prussian awards the grade of Reuss Honor Cross award was based on rank. 1st class with crown - General Leutnant and above 1st class - Major General and Oberst Officers Cross - Oberstleutnant 2nd class (with or w/o crown) - Major 3rd class with crown - Captain 3rd class - Oberleutnant, Leutnant 4th class (w or w/o crown) - NCO As Blitz mentions the swords were added to the award around 1909 to indicate combat awards. In January 1915 the ribbons were changed from the amaranth to the more commonly seen "war time" ribbon of yellow with red and black stripes. What makes #89 unusual is that it is a combatant award on the pre war ribbon. Mark

If anyone is interested I have just posted a large quanity of Bender/TR books for sale. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6890

If anyone is interested I have just posted a large quanity of Bender/TR books for sale. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6890

If anyone is interested I have just posted a large quanity of Bender/TR books for sale. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6890

Chris According the Das Deutsche Heer, the 15th Infantry Bavarian Regiment used the number 15 on their shoulder boards. That looks more like the cypher for the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment. I can't tell from your scan but there should be an crown embroidered above the insignia. Mark

These came together. I would have loved to see the complete medal bar! [attachmentid=31486] [attachmentid=31487]

Rick That's a relief! I thought for a moment he meant that I somehow had to get it to you and that YOU had to lick it! Thanks, Mark

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Rick R. These questions are directed to you from your twin. The set arrived in todays mail. It is a very beautiful set. The first observation is that the SAO is marked S and is a silver/gilt example. The WFO appears to be a gold version. The loops securing the lower cross were loose and the award easily slipped out ot them. The reverse medallion was also loose and almost fell from the award. The entire award is hollow - arms, starburst, etc. While the SAO has tarnished the WFO has a very 18K luster to it. I was told that the way to tell for sure if it is gold or not is to lick it. I was also told that you explain why that is the only way to tell. As to the ID, when did the SAO's start producing the silver/gilt examples? When did they stop producing gold examples of the WFO? How does this effect your theory as to the ID of the officer? Thanks, Mark [attachmentid=31168]

No. What is scary is that he is still not finished with this!

Gentlemen For the hard work you have done the members should all chip in and buy one for you each. It is the least we could do. Rick - I took your advice and the bit the bullet. I should have this set in hand Friday. Want some close ups? Daniel - I would be interested in one too. Mark

Andreas Thank you for the information. I had assumed that the center of these was hollow to lighten the medal. Besides the resin glue, how would the medallions have been attached to the pin/wire? Or was there a seperate center that the pin held and the medallions were glued to that? Red It does not look like your 3rd class has this attachment. Was the center hollow on yours or was there some sort of insert the medallions were attached to?

Rick OK, I'll ask. Why haven't the Wurttemberg Orders roles ever been published?

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I was wondering if I could ask a question about the construction of a crown order 4th class. I have a very nice cased order that is set up on an Austrian ribbon. Neither the case nor the award are marked. The unusal thing about the award is that there is a very small hole drilled through the award between to the right of the top arm and exits to the left of the bottom arm. The hole has been carefully pinned and is almost unnoticable. Any ideas as to why it would have been constructed this way? [attachmentid=30787] [attachmentid=30789]

Dave Thank you for your insight. One of the things that puzzled me when I saw this grouping was the lack of any minor war time decorations. Originally I thought that perhaps this was an officer who was disabled early in the war and mustered out, but your thoughts on the retired officer recalled to duty makes sense too. I checked the 1914 Honor Listings and both the officers you mentioned survived the war, Major Menzel retired as a Major and Hauptmann Brummer retired as an Oberstlt. Mark

Thanks everyone. Lets assume for arguments sake that I am on the bottom of the learning curve in medal bars, which in truth I actually am. Rick - you speculate that this is probably an pre-war officer from IR121. I am curious as to how you came to the conclusion? You also mention that with a name you could trace his pre-war decorations but not his wartime decorations. Since this medal bar has a Kyfhauserbund medal on the end, not to mention an 1914 EK2 and Friedrich Order with swords, shouldn't this indicate a post war assembly and include all of his awards with the exception of pin backs decorations? Thanks in advance, Mark

Attached is the reverse of the grouping. [attachmentid=30700]

I stumbled upon this lot for sale today and thought I would post it to the forum for comments. The lot includes everything pictured. The reverse of the The reverse of the miniature medal bar is marked "Lehmann & Wundenberg, Hannover". And, before anyone asks, I do not have pitures of the reverse. I am working on getting them and will post them if I receive them. [attachmentid=30677]

Jim Let me look around and see what I can find. Do you have a preference for nationality? There are a lot of WW2 figures I can do, but they will be 28mm which will be slightly larger than the 1/72nd you are used to. Mark

Jim Excellent work! That was the thread I remembered seeing with your armour. While I do not feel that my photographic skills or talent are worthy I would be happy to contribute what I could to a "Work Bench" program on figures. Just name the era and I will do the rest! Mark

Dolf I had mixed feelings on the SOS. It was the largest military show I have been to to date. It had just about anything and everything you could ask for. However, I felt that it was no where as good as the early MAX shows used to be. The dishonesty of some of the dealers is just a real turn off to me. I had dealers telling me that fake badges were prototypes, badly made up TR tunics were legit, fakes daggers as being brought home by the vet who lived next door, etc. Not all of the dealers, just some who I guess are out to make a quick buck. I collected TR army tunics for about 10 years, and in all that time I think I only saw 1 legit Gebirg Generals tunic. I think I counted 4 fake ones at this show. The other problem is that the prices were outrageous. I am not sure who is going to be able to afford to collect anything anymore if things keep going this way. Yes, it is lucky to have such shows to go to but I understand why a lot of people shy away from them and cultivate reputable source to collect from. The money I spent on car rental, gas and hotel could have been better spent on something for my collection. Just my two cents worth. Mark

Dolf My apologies for not responding to your earlier post. You caught me as I was leaving for the SOS show and I only returned yesterday afternoon. Thank you for your compliments about my figures. Perhaps "science fiction" is too generalized for these figures. Maybe Fantasy would be a better fit. Here is another of them whatever you call its. [attachmentid=28848] I too played a lot of board games growing up. We used to have marathon games of Diplomacy and Risk that would last for weekends at a time. I learned basic flying skills playing Dogfight, and spent a lot of time playing the Avalon Hill games Midway, Jutland and Panzer. The closest I find to these today are some of the PC games - Panzer General for one. Stephen I am curious about the Flak Towers you plan - why 20mm? It seems like you would have a better selection of figures and accessories in 25mm. Mark