Tank Destruction Badges

[deejay]

Important notice on Type 2a.

One thing I still have to state about this type 2a TDB. In the 1970's the collectors community was flooded with a so called "Austrian" made reproduction. This reproduction looks very much the same as a type 2a, among other wrong features on this reproduction, the first noticable error are the dimensions. The tank is too big.

As explaining reproductions should be done in a future thread I would like to start, I will leave it at that as not to confuse anybody. In the mean time look else where on this forum as many have passed by before.

DJ

[Dirk S.]

Hi DJ!
Great work...

The 2a-Type iss from a Fallschirmj******228;ger!
I have bad photocopys of his Soldbuch! Pics i will show you soon!
He was a wearer of 2 "Sonderabzeichen f******252;r die Vernichtung von ..." - 1 Kill in Russia and 1 Kill in the Nederlands 44! Hi was wearer of the "Deutsches Kreuz in Gold" too!

The Type 2 iss from an "simple" infantryman!

[ehansl02]

Hi DJ, hi Dirk,

this looks like teamwork, doesn******180;t it?

DJ, great work....
Very interesting!!
Will you post an "Austrian" reproduktion?

Beste wishes
Eddy

[deejay]

Hi DJ!
Great work...

The 2a-Type iss from a Fallschirmj******228;ger!
I have bad photocopys of his Soldbuch! Pics i will show you soon!
He was a wearer of 2 "Sonderabzeichen f******252;r die Vernichtung von ..." - 1 Kill in Russia and 1 Kill in the Nederlands 44! Hi was wearer of the "Deutsches Kreuz in Gold" too!

The Type 2 iss from an "simple" infantryman!

Hi Dirk,

very interesting, I hope to see more about him and I suspect also others as there are many more Fallschirmj******228;ger attribute collectors on this forum.

Hi Eddy,

yes this is teamwork and good teamwork aswell. I figure I everyone would take one type of badge and really study it as I do in this thread and share the information, many questions will be answered and we could get rid of lots of tales and misunderstandings, making this hobby safer don't you think.
I in fact think it is possible to collect all TDB's among us and differ them by a uniek feature so to recognize the badge in the future and in that way make ik very hard to release any "new" reproduction without noticing it.

Due to the size of the topic, maybe I will explain all the reproductions I have encounterd in another thread later, let us first settle with getting the authentical ones ranged and widely known, that alone will make recognizingthe reproductions easier too.

many regards,

DJ

[deejay]

Tank destruction badge (third type)

A week has passed and many people hav e viewed this thread, some have commented positively. To me it means you are interested and I have your attention. Thanks all for looking! This motivates me to keep it going.

The third type I am describing is not a common type. In most cases you will find this type on the gold class TDB. There is a simple way to recognize this one but I have added another feature also used by a fellow collctor as a reference.

First, my third type TDB:


Hmmm don't seem to be able to post anymore images ... be back again soon.

[Porsche]

Deejay,
what's your view on the /// v's \\\ thread weave on the black stripes? Mine is quite clearly the /// version, but I have seen a Gold with the \\\ weave. The dealer was a well known German dealer and he was adamant that it was a vet' pick up . It had Black woolly backing and the threading on the back of the stripes looked right. This (stitching on the back of the stripes) is one of the characteristics that I use to judge whether it's OK or not -has this been copied correctly yet?

Cheers,

Neil

[Paul l k]

Hi deejay,

i would just like to thank you for all the help you have given us all in the past weeks .. your threads have finally put to rest a lot of myths and misunderstandings involved with the collecting of these unusual and very interesting badges ..

i am sure you will have inspired many collectors who until now would have not felt safe enough to even think about owning any one of the 3 different types discussed .. please continue to keep up the wonderful work you have been doing .. thanks to you i now own a beautiful example of the type one .

cheers
Paul l k.

[deejay]

Deejay,
what's your view on the /// v's \\\ thread weave on the black stripes? Mine is quite clearly the /// version, but I have seen a Gold with the \\\ weave. The dealer was a well known German dealer and he was adamant that it was a vet' pick up . It had Black woolly backing and the threading on the back of the stripes looked right. This (stitching on the back of the stripes) is one of the characteristics that I use to judge whether it's OK or not -has this been copied correctly yet?

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Porsche,

Thanks for this question (I wondered how long it would take before someone asked... ). I will (cautiously) try to answer this question for you.

As I started describing the types 1, 2 and 2a allready you should have the answer. Stating that backing material was randomly used on gold or black types, I first use the tank for recognizing authenticy, that is in most cases sufficient enough.
About the weave of the silver or gold backing, all original badges I have encountered have the /// black weave! First recognize the tank (in most cases probably Austrian reproduction but of course other reproduction types have been seen on them and it is even possible that a original tank was placed on a new post backing by recipient or hobbyist).

One other obvious feature beside the \\\ weave in most cases: look close to the opposite weave and discover that the unused edges folded under the backing cloth to the rear are twice as long as originals (about 1 cm). This is also a simple give away but it is easy to correct... Should I say more? I don't think so as the copies are getting good we should not reveal all features.

Hope I answered your question.

DJ

(By the way my membership expired without warning ... hope to get type 3 up soon).

[deejay]

Hi deejay,

i would just like to thank you for all the help you have given us all in the past weeks .. your threads have finally put to rest a lot of myths and misunderstandings involved with the collecting of these unusual and very interesting badges ..

i am sure you will have inspired many collectors who until now would have not felt safe enough to even think about owning any one of the 3 different types discussed .. please continue to keep up the wonderful work you have been doing .. thanks to you i now own a beautiful example of the type one .

cheers
Paul l k.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for you compliments! Largely appreciated, glad to help as that is why this forum exists no ? Good luck with your wrapper!

Dirk (DJ)

[deejay]

A week has passed and many people hav e viewed this thread, some have commented positively. To me it means you are interested and I have your attention. Thanks all for looking! This motivates me to keep it going.

The third type I am describing is not a common type. In most cases you will find this type on the gold class TDB. There is a simple way to recognize this one but I have added another feature also used by a fellow collctor as a reference.

First, my third type TDB:

Hmmm don't seem to be able to post anymore images ... be back again soon.

Okay I'm back in business:

[deejay]

A close-up of the barrel reveals "A" the main feature to look for on this 3rd type. A contour starting from the top of the barrel clearly running down to the underside of it.

[deejay]

No other tanks I have seen have the barrel "fixed" this way. Another feature to look for is the track at the rear "B" as it is clearly seen running between fender and cog.

[deejay]

As I mentioned earlier this type 3 tank is not a common one as it was mainly used for the gold grade TDB (later type). Here some more examples of the type 3 Tank Destruction Badge.

[deejay]

2

[deejay]

3