S Boot abzeichen

[AZartman]

here is my fake...

since I'm on a roll here today, here is one more the trash heap I guess. Cheers

[AZartman]

back side

2

[John R.]

trash

Yep.

[ROBB]

Dealers repainting badges? you are kidding ..right? Rob.

[rhudspith]

"Some" Dealers repainting badges? you are kidding ..right?

Surely you're the one thats kidding!, Rob?

[ROBB]

No I wasnt . Surely that must devalue the award greatly ,like putting a fake liner in a nice German helmet ,why would you do that when you could leave the award as it was found and sell it as a nice original .Rob.

[rhudspith]

Well, sort of yes and no.

If you know what you are looking at then the answer would be yes it would devalue it.

However if you are a beginner then you would likely pay more for a one with the gold finish. I have had repainted badges offered me by lesser dealers with a premium for having the "original" finish. Whether or not they personnaly repainted them I don't know but were definately passing on the badge as good.

I can't really see any serious collector refinishing these to make a profit so that only leaves the "middle" men or dealers

[Carl Ellingstad]

I have a question about the detecting of new painted badges, does the original golden finish hold against aceton or a spiritus on a q-tip who is rubbed against the golden finish? And the new painted ones, does they keep up against the same?

[rhudspith]

Thats a good question, I would have thought so but have not tested, I will look into it. Perhaps Mike K could add something as he made a fairly in depth study of finishes on the Schwerin HSF zinc badge.

[Mike Kenny]

Hi Carl,

Regarding repainting/refinishing, it's a good question as Rob H mentioned but not an easy one to answer.

Imo refinishing is generally hard to pick from images - unless you have good experience with genuine finishes and can tell when something does not look right, or a poor re-finish job has been done (obvious brush marks or obscured details due to thick paint). If a badge has been refinished using some sort of plating or chemical method, then no, acetone probably will not effect the re-finish.

Many refinished badges have been painted over though and many of these paints WILL be removed by acetone - leaving a smeared or sticky finish. If the badge has been refinished recently, it may also feel sticky when you first pick it up and your finger may come away with a sparkly effect! A genuine fire-gilt finish in my experience will not be removed by acetone but will definitely colour tone.

Regarding the effect of acetone on original gilt finished zinc badges, it's much harder to say. I have not used acetone on many zinc badges (certainly not a Schwerin with good and obviously original finish remaining!) but I do not think the acetone will dissolve the finish due to the original hardening/baking process - HOWEVER, if the original gilt finish is in poor condition (prone to flaking) then the acetone can strip the gilt finish BUT the finish will come off as discrete micro-flakes rather than as a sticky smear for a recent painted re-finish. Acetone may or may not remove a re-finish - it would all depend on what sort of paint was used.

RobB, Rob H gave a pretty good summary of the probable reasons for re-finishing. It definitely happens and some dealers (some of them "big" as well) seem to be more "prone" to it than others. Sometimes it seems they have their badges re-finished in batches - maybe it's more economical that way. Not only re-finishing a badge to it's original colour scheme occurs, but also upgrading - eg turning a genuine Pilot's Badge into a PO badge, stripping a Black steel Legion Condor Wound Badge and polishing up into a Silver Grade, etc.

Regards
Mike K

[Henri S]

What about this one?

[Henri S]

Reverse view.

[Henri S]

Any comments on the badge above .

Not my area, but from my research here the following are my comments:

1. Firstly is it authentic ? - If not, this look very good especially the pin construction, but I see some slight difference on the obverse.
2. Would a zinc award keep it's paintwork over the years or is it repainted ?

[Henri S]

No news, good news . Or maybe it's that bad that it is not worth a comment .

[davidww]

Eboat

Hi Henri

I think the badge is ok the pin set up looks good. but i do feel
a some repaint work on the boat has been done its hard to tell.

David