Plastic Infanterie Sturmabzeichen IAB

[Bob Hritz]

Plastic Paratrooper badge.

Bob Hritz

[Bob Hritz]

Verso

[Robin Lumsden]

The Brits also used plastic 'economy' badges during WW2..................

[FLiPSiDE]

Hate to blow you bubble about Baklite it would be next to impossible to heat it up and reform it into something else even if you had a full access to a lab.

It is formaldehyde resin with wood heat it up and it will make all sorts of smoke but it will never melt again. Also the smoke would be rather nasty as well.

Field made plastic badgers even to day is just not going to happen, 99% of a plastic products are based on injection molding which well beyond anything that would be possible in the field.

You can make a form of plastic out of milk and vinegar but it would be a very poor casting material as well it would rot after a few years.

Ok I just did some research and it seems you are quite correct in that genuine bakelite would be impossible to melt down and re-mold. However, I have also found that if it was celluloid plastic which is often mistakenly referred to as "bakelite" it could be easily melted down and reformed over and over again. Celluloid or cellulose plastics apparently saw widespread use in the Third Reich (actually it was used by both Axis and Allies during the war) so it wouldn't be a stretch to think that someone melted something down and made this item from a celluloid/cellulose plastic.

"Bakelite: This new material would not burn, boil, melt, or dissolve in any commonly available acid or solvent. This meant that once it was firmly set, it would never change. This one benefit made it stand out from previous "plastics." While celluloid-based substances could be melted down innumerable times and reformed, Bakelite was the first thermoset plastic which would retain its shape and form under any circumstances."


Full Article:
http://www.e-profession.com/bakelite_collectibles.htm

Ok so the bottom line regarding all this is the fact that the item exists and it appears to be made of an early WWII era plastic. Therefore someone made it. So that just leaves us with the questions of why it was made and by whom

[Thomas Durante]

Hi guys,

Bob, that is an intersting badge in the fact Souval used this exact eagle and wreath design on their post-war Para badges, but this design was never used on wartime originals.

Tom

[FLiPSiDE]

In my possession there is an example of Infanterie Sturmabzeichen in Bronze, made of some kind of plastic. I could not find any info in the net. I hope to find some more info here. I can provide pictures. Whoever is interested in pictures, please send me PM with email address.

Have you been able to complete the bakelite test on this item? As was mentioned earlier if you place this badge under hot running tap water for 15 to 30 seconds when you smell it, it should give-off an odor of formaldehyde (chemical smell).

Also is the item flexible? Or hard and brittle? My guess is hard since the pin snapped off.

[pzo]

Plastic IAB

I used the word "plastic" on the purpose. I collect German militaria and I know how bakelite looks and smells like. I have bakelite binoculars, binoculars cases, many various boxes for fuses, compasses, weapon grips, etc., etc. It is hard, brittle and i am rather sure, this is not bakelite. As You can see on the pictures the color is gray. I have never seen gray bakelite.

[pzo]

Iab

Hello again,
Has anyone found out anything new about plastic IAB?

[pzo]

Still nothing new? Maybe someone found the same badge?

[John T]

I just saw this thread.

I saw some sort of model soldier, or some sort of German Military toy/models for sale maybe a year or two ago...I forget where, maybe in a store or at a show and they included in the box a plastic badge/medal from the Third Reich Era I think made in China...I thought it was interesting but I did not buy any of the items and I forget where I saw this.

I do believe that plastic and bakelite could have been used in the production of badges and certainly were used in the production of insignia of the TR and I also believe they can be used in copy items...as I recall plastic is petroleum based while bakelite is wood based.

J

[speedytop]

Hi,

in my copy/fake/fantasy section you can find two different plastic paratrooper badges and one plastic "Erdkampfabzeichen".

One of the paratrooper badges is the same one you can see here in Post 61/62.
The other differs a little in the design and the color.

Is here seriously somebody who believes in a contemporary manufacturing of these war toys?

Weight for all three pieces together: 13.2 g.

Regards
Uwe

[A H]

I like Don and Toms take on Stalingrad. THe men had to have down time maybe making plastic badges took their minds of the battle for an hour or so. There were child uniforms and helmets during the Third Reich period maybe this IAb was for a child. Or maybe a guy on leave made it for his son?

Then again some kid could have made it in tech class?. A teacher I had at school used to make plastic coins ( he was a werid guy) in tech class


regards Adam

[colin davie]

Any tinnie collector knows the quality of German plastic badges.. superb, they are among the sharpest detailed badges of them all, and as such I don't believe these plastic awards were made by a German factory proper.

As for field made, I would have thought there would be ample opportunity to obtain a real black wound badge, plenty guys lying around not needing their one anymore.
C

[Mike P.]

Hi Gents ….I just posted this on GCA but felt this new information should be tagged here as well.

I was just on the phone with SgtMaj Davis who’s a good friend of mine in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><ST1Texas</ST1</st1:State>. Dave was discussing a hand done sketch of a Tiger MK1 a friend had done for him …he told me he’d glued a bunch of Plastic Badges on the Matt surrounding the print as a border (not on the print itself).<O</O
PLASTIC TR BADGES ??? …wait a minute<O</O
I interrupted him and asked about these Plastic awards.
<O</O
He said about 20 years ago a friend of his named George Pearce owned a Plastics company in <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1Texas</ST1</st1:State> that made Models and War Gamers items etc …it was called “Vac-U-Cast Plastics, Inc”. George was a WW2 History Buff and for his last 6 months in the Army he had worked at the 2<SUP>nd</SUP> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Armored</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType> (<ST1<st1:City w:st="on">Fort Hood</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State></ST1). George had a line of Model Tanks and thought he’d add to his line by making Plastic German Medals so people completing a Model could add one or 2 to a display …but eventually he also thought there’d be a good market with Reenactors who could buy them and not worry about losing them in the “field” since they were cheap. He sold them at $10 for 3 and apparently did a good business with them.
<O></O>
Dave and another Collector loaned quite a few Badges to George so he could make the Molds. George kept Dave up to date with the project …told him how the early batches were too thin and snapped easily …how they experimented with different Pins and Glues to keep the Pins on but never had any real luck and most came off. Then they’d put a Pin on and hand pour extra “resin” on the back hoping to hold the pin better. That didn’t work well either and only made the Badge thicker. <O</O
Finally …George decided not to put any more Pins on them and would grind the backs flat to get rid of the imperfections. <O</O
George ended up moving the Company from <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State> to <ST1<st1:State w:st="on">Colorado</st1:State></ST1 and kept making these until he closed in 2007.<O</O
Dave didn’t keep in touch with George after he moved so he has no idea if he ever perfected attaching the Pins and what other Medals he added to his line ….but if he was making money with them , I’m sure his “products” got better with time and practice .<O</O
Dave has posted 7 of these Plastic Toy Badges on the Thread incl a Plastic EK1 with great detail <O</O
http://ww2weaponsforum.com/showthread.php?t=2322 <O</O
<O></O>
I wonder what the PKZ would say about a Plastic EK1.<O</O
<O></O>
I just hate to think that what many bought thinking were rare Third Reich Plastic Badges are actually from the Texas or Colorado Reich …the fact remains, Plastic Badges were being made in the USA 20 years ago.<O</O
<O></O>
<O</O

[Mike P.]

Hi guys,

Bob, that is an intersting badge in the fact Souval used this exact eagle and wreath design on their post-war Para badges, but this design was never used on wartime originals.

Tom

Hi Tom (long time no see!)
You are absolutely right ...I spotted that Souval Eagle as well and Dave told me that George had borrowed that Badge from his friend just to make a Mold ...and they knew it was a fake. But since George never meant to fool anyone , it was not an issue.
If you showed a Plastic TR Badge to someone 20 years ago ...they'd laugh at you. No one would believe it was real so , they could only be sold as repros