Luftwaffe Fake Luftwaffe tabs

[Laurence Strong]

Last pair also black and gold

[Paul R]

Hi Laurence,

Thank you for posting these "treasures"! You are right... the flak tabs do not look half bad at all!

Can you request a rear shot from the vendor?

Regards

Paul

Edited December 12, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Laurence Strong]

Yeah will do.

[Paul R]

I think it's very hard to judge these boards and patches just by the material,odd gulls etc..

Era pics are showing very funny,odd and misshaped gulls,eagles etc..

I think it has more to do with comparing loads of bullion stuff,backings etc.

I've learned that you can go easily wrong by not liking the pattern,shape etc..

In fact I like funny bullion cap and breast eagles.

It's not a matter of black light and burntests,I hardly use these tools personaly,but studying many textbook items,but also the many variations etc..

Bullion stuff is difficult,there're 1000nds of variations,some delicate,some rude,messy,simple,odd,funny,weird..

It takes knowledge of material,the small coiled silver threads/wires etc..

Some are obvious,some are difficult,some are unbelievable..

I would not cast away the last Flak sets..,unless somebody is 100% sure they're fake.

Jos.

Jos.

Thank you for your thoughts and reply. I am sometimes too quick to judge... especially on things are are outside of the norm! You are absolutely correct in stating that things outside the norm have an equal chance of being real. Example being...

Here is a period example of what I believe to be a completely tailor made tab. It is one of my more interesting pieces!

Edited December 12, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Paul R]

back

[Ronny]

Hey guys,

What do you think of this LW tab.

I have no id?e, I don?t collect tabs.

Best regards,

Ronny.

[Ronny]

Back.

[Ronny]

and..

Cheers,

Ronny.

[Ronny]

One more..

[Gary B]

Ronny,

Your tab looks fine to me.

I would have to agree with Jos, one can not condemn a tab because of the material or the oddity of the gulls, wreath etc. I have seen many different variations in the material used to make tabs, the stiffner and the artisitcness of the gulls/wreath. You can have buckram or lacquered cardboard etc. Some gulls are nice looking others are quite ugly.

Additionally I also have a set of Enlisted flight tabs where the gulls are embroidered on to the yellow background material i.e. no metal gulls. These are the only set I have seen like these.

Also I liked the other Flak tabs pictured.

Gary B

[Laurence Strong]

Flak O/Leut rev

[Laurence Strong]

Flak Major rev. Don't seem to bad.

Edited December 13, 2005 by Laurence Strong

[Ronny]

Thanks Gary

Best Regards,

Ronny.

[Paul R]

Ronny,

As Gary stated, your tab is a very nice original!

Laurence,

From the back, the flak tabs you posted look pretty convincing. The overall picture quality is horrible! The gulls in the black set are definately lacking in detail and overall quality. They do not look like any originals I have ever seen. The gulls on both sets of arty tabs look pretty good(from what I can tell from the picture quality)! Are these being sold as original and are they from the same seller? Maybe there is something up with their camera? I wonder why the vendor did not send the pics of the reverse side on the black tabs for comparison?

Gary,

I would love to see those embroidered EM tabs(and perhaps have them too!)!!

Regards

Paul

Edited December 13, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Ronny]

Thanks Paul,

good news

Best regards,

Ronny.

[Paul R]

Here are some more reproduction items. First is a GFM set along with some other GO tabs. There are being sold as reproductions...

[Paul R]

back...

I requested pics of the back sides of the insignia. I received this photo... I again requested pics of the reverse side of the tabs and await his answer.

[Paul R]

Here are another set of tabs... If real, they would be very very rare indeed (as I have only seen one period photo of this type of tabs). I requestsed clear photos of both the front and back a few days ago and have had no reply.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Paul R]

Although these are not collar tabs, they were listed for sale as handmade copies of LW shoulder boards.

[Laurence Strong]

Looks more like NVA , which is what I think they are.

[Paul R]

I dont think so Laurence... I have a huge box full of NVA boards and I have never seen a set like that before. The tongue is way different. Also look closely at the braid... like nothing I have ever seen before.

(which boards are you talking about specifically?)

Edited December 16, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Paul R]

Here is a photo of the backside of the HG Armour Tabs. Another hint of a bad item, is very bad photography. I notice that there is an officer piping around the tab that is visable on the reverse that is not on the initial frontal view... Whats up with this guy??!!

[J Temple-West]

Another hint of a bad item, is very bad photography.

Sorry, I can't agree...Not good advice to give. Some of my finest pieces have come form sellers who have posted bad pictures on auction sites, etc.

[Paul R]

Hi John,

The way I always saw things is that if the photography is that bad, in most cases the seller is trying to cover up details.

I am not trying to pass off bad advice, I am just going by what I have experienced.

Paul

Edited December 17, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Paul R]

Here are another set of tabs that do not fit into the norms of what I have seen as originals+