My latest Bavarian ribbon bar

[landsknechte]

This bar just arrived in the mail, courtesy of our very own Stogierick. Along with it, came an attribution to a Bavarian aviator named Bauer (exactly which Bauer hadn't quite been nailed down). What suprised me, once I actually got this bar in my grubby little paws is that the silver Luftwaffe DA was originally gold. If you look at the edge of the eagle, you can see that only the front was painted. No idea when it might have been painted, or for what reason, but there are traces of silver paint on the ribbon itself - suggesting that it was done after "installation". Rick Research was kind enough to poke his head out of his current research project to suggest that this might in fact be the bar of a Landespolizei officer that ended up in the Luftwaffe.

Curiouser and curioser...

--Chris

[Bob Hunter]

Interesting bar. I hope the research turns up something for you.

Am I growing old and feeble or is that a type I spange on the EKII?

Edited August 21, 2005 by Bob Hunter

[Guest Rick Research]

Definitely a FLYING combination of Anhalt and Brunswick to a Bavarian.

Yes Bob, you ARE. Now you know how Evil Ricky started his sad, slow decline!

[landsknechte]

This being my first bar with the EK spange on it, I haven't invested that much research time on those... What makes a "Type I"?

[joe campbell]

in the trapezoidal base containing 1939, the ends of the trapezoid

are curved slightly, rather than flat. i do not mean the angle of the side,

but that the side has a slight curvature.

hope this helps.

joe

[Guest Rick Research]

The first type's "1939" bar's outer sides curved as if following the lines of the upper cross arm on the EK ) ( rather than / to make keyboard attempts at it.

Here are a couple of Otto Schickle-made 1st style Spangen in big and little sizes:

[attachmentid=8908]

close up of 1st type left below, regular (whompin enormous) type right below:

[attachmentid=8917]

(Those "zinky" guys have NO clue we talk about their stuff in here! )

[landsknechte]

It's a Type-I, although you virtually need a microscope to tell.

Edited August 21, 2005 by landsknechte

[Bob Hunter]

That makes it even cooler in my book!

[landsknechte]

That makes it even cooler in my book!      

←

Finally got a better picture of the spange:

[landsknechte]

...and better pictures of the paint job on the Luftwaffe DA:

[landsknechte]

The light caught this second one a little funny. The paint is worn on the "belly" of the eagle, but not nearly so dramatically as this photo would suggest.

Edited August 24, 2005 by landsknechte

[Bob Hunter]

The close up makes the spange look more like a type II with the angled edges connected by a straight line.

[landsknechte]

The close up makes the spange look more like a type II with the angled edges connected by a straight line.

←

The curvature is there, but it's quite slight. Type 1 1/2?

[Gerd Becker]

Nice bar, Chris. I would agree, its probably a Typ 2 Spange, but still

[landsknechte]

I finally gave in, and brought the ribbon bar back to it's original state:

[landsknechte]

My wife worked as a picture framer for over ten years, and it's amazing the odd, yet archivally-friendly, chemicals that we have buried in the closet and under the kitchen sink.

Silver crap came right off, without any damage to the eagle, or smudging onto the surface of the ribbon itself.

Edited August 28, 2005 by landsknechte

[Stogieman]

I'm sorry, but I think you have made a serious error in altering this bar. If you look quite closely, you now have a base-metal (tombak) eagle, not a gilded one like the one right next to it. Since this bar was basicly mint and unused, it was made the way it was, with the full intent of the owner (and maker) that that was a silver eagle. Now this piece is altered from what it was intended to be.

I would not recommend to anyone that they do this.

[landsknechte]

Are there any confirmed examples of devices being painted by the tailors that put but ribbon bars together?

I have no doubt that device was painted (plating doesn't leave brush marks), and that the painting was done after the device was attached to the bar (trace amounts of silver paint on the ribbon).