Since my first attempt at acquiring a Heer para badge was a bust, I thought I'd give it another go. I tried to apply the points brought up in my other Thread by Tom, Giel, Jeff, and JohnT to this one, thus there are some things I like about it and some things I don't. I'd appreciate your thoughts regarding the badge and points I make below.
The goods:
* Eagle appears to show crisp detail and the correct spacing of the tail feathers from the body. As JohnT mentioned though - fakes these days have pretty much corrected this so not a distinctive feature anymore.
* Rivets show the characteristic pinch. As Tom said in his book, this is not "always" found, but the question is - is this feature found on fakes?
* Short barrel hinge block appears to show striations. You have to look close at all the photo angles, but I can see some slight ones, and the major one looks like it is on the side facing the top back of the eagle's head.
* Pin is magnetic (welcome departure from my other example, but not in itself a redeeming quality).
* Hand filing and/or finishing of the wreath. I can see enough evidence on the wreath (especially at the back bottom of the swastika) to indicate there was an attempt to hand finish it. I'm assuming this though is also being done on "high end" fakes.
The bads:
* Even though the rivets have the "pinch", they look like copper rather than brass. This could be the pictures, but there is consistency at all angles to cause me concern.
* Wreath finish. It's hard to really get a sense of the finish as the luster changes based on the angle so I'll withhold my unqualified judgment as to whether the finish is Juncker or some refinished BS, but what I really don't see is the true "bubbling" encountered on zink badges with a brennlack finish. It looks like there are bubbles, but it appears more to be grit or something resulting from the casting process. This feature appears to be present on the back of Martin's badge which has rightfully been given a resounding thumbs-up.
* Eagle finish. Silver looks a little cheesy to me and the patina on the back looks almost artificially applied. I have seen some strange patinas on original zink badges with a high quality silver wash, but there's something about this one that gives me goosebumps.
* The hinge roller bar seems to be a little thick and the finishing on the left side looks sloppy.
So I'm not trying to make it sound like I've got all the knowledge now to pass judgment on one of these, more so I'm having a little fun testing what I've learned in looking at the 50 - 60 or so here on WAF. What do you guys think, am I chasing another ghost? If this one is fake then I will go for one more attempt as the third time should be a charm
Thanks in advance for your inputs.
vr
Bob
The goods:
* Eagle appears to show crisp detail and the correct spacing of the tail feathers from the body. As JohnT mentioned though - fakes these days have pretty much corrected this so not a distinctive feature anymore.
* Rivets show the characteristic pinch. As Tom said in his book, this is not "always" found, but the question is - is this feature found on fakes?
* Short barrel hinge block appears to show striations. You have to look close at all the photo angles, but I can see some slight ones, and the major one looks like it is on the side facing the top back of the eagle's head.
* Pin is magnetic (welcome departure from my other example, but not in itself a redeeming quality).
* Hand filing and/or finishing of the wreath. I can see enough evidence on the wreath (especially at the back bottom of the swastika) to indicate there was an attempt to hand finish it. I'm assuming this though is also being done on "high end" fakes.
The bads:
* Even though the rivets have the "pinch", they look like copper rather than brass. This could be the pictures, but there is consistency at all angles to cause me concern.
* Wreath finish. It's hard to really get a sense of the finish as the luster changes based on the angle so I'll withhold my unqualified judgment as to whether the finish is Juncker or some refinished BS, but what I really don't see is the true "bubbling" encountered on zink badges with a brennlack finish. It looks like there are bubbles, but it appears more to be grit or something resulting from the casting process. This feature appears to be present on the back of Martin's badge which has rightfully been given a resounding thumbs-up.
* Eagle finish. Silver looks a little cheesy to me and the patina on the back looks almost artificially applied. I have seen some strange patinas on original zink badges with a high quality silver wash, but there's something about this one that gives me goosebumps.
* The hinge roller bar seems to be a little thick and the finishing on the left side looks sloppy.
So I'm not trying to make it sound like I've got all the knowledge now to pass judgment on one of these, more so I'm having a little fun testing what I've learned in looking at the 50 - 60 or so here on WAF. What do you guys think, am I chasing another ghost? If this one is fake then I will go for one more attempt as the third time should be a charm
Thanks in advance for your inputs.
vr
Bob
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