Army Flak in bronze

[Joey Charles]

Flak

Hi Emaroli If it was a badge that was at first platted bronze and then in turn platted silver how come the wear shows up silver on the highlights?.Regards Joey.

It is a zinc badge that was plated bronze. The bronze plating was then in turn silver plated. Bronze is often used as a "glue' in plating.

Nice piece, Ed

[Joey Charles]

Flak

Hi Emaroli It might have been made whenever and it did have a finish at one time BRONZE.Regards Joey

Joey, You have nice original piece but at one time that badge had a finish. Or, It also could have been a piece that was never finished before the end of the war. Or, it was made immediately post was for the G.I. market from left over stock.
Ed

[Mark S.]

those silver highlight you see is from wear, revealing the zinc basemetal.

This applied coating (that appears to be bronze) was applied over the zinc.

There was not a bronze grade of the Heer Flak badge, so the coating is either a toned silver badge OR it was never actually finished, and this coating is waiting for the final silver overlay, which never happened. This coating is quite common, and is used as an adhesion promoter for the final finish.

It was never intended to be a bronze flak badge.

[StevenD]

Joey:

Can you give us pictures with different lighting conditions as it is hard for us to see what color the badge truly looks like.

If you say it looks like bronze I believe you, but sometimes it is hard to tell from pictures.

[Joey Charles]

flak badge

Dear Sir It does not appear to be a zinc badge to me and it appears finished,I did not say there was a bronze flak badge only that this one had unintentually been coated in the factory by error thats all.Regards Joey.

those silver highlight you see is from wear, revealing the zinc basemetal.

This applied coating (that appears to be bronze) was applied over the zinc.

There was not a bronze grade of the Heer Flak badge, so the coating is either a toned silver badge OR it was never actually finished, and this coating is waiting for the final silver overlay, which never happened. This coating is quite common, and is used as an adhesion promoter for the final finish.

It was never intended to be a bronze flak badge.

[Joey Charles]

Flak badge

Hi Steven I have tried hope this came out allright.Regards Joey.

Joey:

Can you give us pictures with different lighting conditions as it is hard for us to see what color the badge truly looks like.

If you say it looks like bronze I believe you, but sometimes it is hard to tell from pictures.

[emaroli]

The badge is zinc, that is why it has an oval plate for the catch. Zinc is a cheap metal and it does not take solder or plating very well. The base plate gives more surface area for the catch.

[Joey Charles]

Flak badge

Hi Emaroli You could be right, however it looks a good quality badge and I dont usually expect to see that quality in late war badges.Regards Joe.

The badge is zinc, that is why it has an oval plate for the catch. Zinc is a cheap metal and it does not take solder or plating very well. The base plate gives more surface area for the catch.

[Don D.]

Weigh it. A zinc badge would be lighter than a bronze/tombak badge. My zinc heer flak weighs 26.5 gm.
Don

[Joey Charles]

flak

Hi Good Idea I will do that tomorrow.Regards Joe.

Weigh it. A zinc badge would be lighter than a bronze/tombak badge. My zinc heer flak weighs 26.5 gm.
Don

[Mike Kenny]

Hi,

Nice badge but I too think this is a zinc badge - this (Juncker-like) hinge/pin/catch assembly is typical for a zinc badge. What we refer to as "zinc" is really a zinc-alloy basemetal, which varied in quality from maker to maker and with the period of produciton during the war.

I also think it's a silver badge - look at the reverse of the gun, in the area around the catch - looks silver to me from the scans and is probably the area where the original finish is untoned (it even appears to have the zinc bubbling). Storage can do amazing things to badges! I certanily won't discount the possibility of underplating either though.

Regards
Mike K

[Philippe DB]

Hi Joey,

For sure a strange looking badge.

Although it looks bronze I wouldn't be surprised if this was a heavy patina that developed on a good quality silver finish. Like Mike wrote everything is possible depending on the storage condition.

There is a simple way to exclude the patina theory, take a soft eraser and gently rub a certain part of the badge. If it is patina or dirt you can be sure that the original tone will reapear. if it doesn't this is some kind of finish or undercoating.

KR
Philippe

[Chris Boonzaier]

Oh man, oh man, oh man.....

You have silver finish, more silver finish and different silver finish.

Some things stay silver, some go this color. I had a genral Assault from the same maker,it also went bronze with time.

Patina effects different kinds of finish in different ways to comparing it to a badge by another maker whio used a different finish is a waste of time.

Joey, Quality means zip. You can find superb late war zink pieces, this maker being a good example...

[skip]

Agree with Phil and Chris. The silver has taken on a patina that makes it look bronze. As Chris I also had a GAB that had taken on this bronze hue, a light clean with soapy water quickly revealed the silver underneath.

Skip

[Joey Charles]

flak badge

Hi Skip You think Im gona clean this badge,you must be mad.Regards Joey

Agree with Phil and Chris. The silver has taken on a patina that makes it look bronze. As Chris I also had a GAB that had taken on this bronze hue, a light clean with soapy water quickly revealed the silver underneath.

Skip