J Temple-West

Nice find, jan...

Heavily repaired but an original by “Friedrich Linden. Lüdenscheid ” (FLL).

Reverse.

What Intrigues me is the shape of the wreath. I have a flak by S&L that has this same distorted wreath which leads me to believe that certain firms may have used an injection moulding process for their late badges, the heat of the process causing this distortion on ejection when the mould was given insufficient time to cool. The S&L. Obverse.

Interesting...The "H" (It should be WH) in the maker mark is missing, but the badge is by "Wilhelm Hobacher - Wien"

Hi Pat...There are some very good, and not so good, copies of this maker out there... but going on the pictures, this one looks to be an original...and there's not many of those. Well done! As to the faint "5"...this is one one the characteristics to look out for on originals. Another for comparison.

Reverse with maker mark for "Wiedmann"

Other than the usual loss of silver wash...A late example in zinc with no problems at all. Nice, Jan. Here's a comparison with an earlier nickel plated type. Obverse.

A very nice set, G Found quite a nice doc' of (Stab) Kampfgeschwader 40. Also, a link that may be of interest. http://www.9thflottilla.de/9kg40.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqly1pHyZ5E

Hi M M.... That would be the "A1" bird.

What a superp piece, Bob. As you say...Exquisite embroidery on these. where on earth did you find it?

Family reunion.

Maker mark.

A small addition to the collection. Many thanks, Rachel! "Stehend Elefant" (standing elephant) Model# 3 by Theodore Karner

Reverse.

The possibility of a repaired catch…but yes, I agree with Jan…an original by FLL – Friedrich Linden. Lüdenscheid. For comparison…An early example by FLL in nickel silver.

Ah, yes….I feel the old “Ball hinge” glider pilot badge controversy is about to rear it’s head once again. For those who are unfamiliar with this type of badge, there are two schools of thought on the subject…believers and non-believers. Never say never, and certainly, it is a very good looking badge, but other than some stories regarding collector acquisition from allied vets etc these badges have never, to my knowledge, been identified by any glider pilot or seen in any period photograph. The thing that worries me is that the glider pilots badge is a rare beast, known original examples by the firms BSW and CE Juncker are exceedingly hard to find. Why then do these ‘ball hinge’ types turn up so regularly? Personally, I have not considered buying one of these badges due to doubts and have stuck to the known originals. All that having been said….Always open to new information. So what is the story behind this piece, Wood? Please tell me that you have an 8x10” showing this badge in wear. Now that would be exciting!

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=STFdRrWBW2w

Isn't it always the way.... :banger:

I should say...It's rubbish, send it to me for disposal. But I can see no problems with this 2nd pattern Pilot Observer by "C E Juncker" :cheers:

"M. Kunstoff Gablonz" are the clasp makers who use this type of fluted pin, but they use a different type of hinge (cast-in or sheet metal) and catch system. Let's see if anyone has seen this set-up before.

Hi KDVR No immediate red flags. If you have the time, would you be good enough to post a full-face shot of the catch as per the example below.

Justin I think I'm right in saying that none of these TDB's were maker marked, so makers are still a bit of a mystery. Can you tell me if the backing plate/prongs are magnetic or non-magnetic on your example. :cheers:

Good news, Jan. Take a leaf out of Jan's book guys....always ask for "a right of return" on any item if you can't post the piece for opinions before you buy.

close-up of your badge and the Assmann fake