Destroyer & Minesweeper

[Martin W]

Two very nice original badges,IMO.The circles on the reverse of the Souval Destroyer are mold ejection marks.
RS&S Minesweeper is very fine.A simple acetone test will dertermine if the finish is original or not.

Regards,Martin.

[John R.]

Two very nice original badges,IMO.The circles on the reverse of the Souval Destroyer are mold ejection marks.
RS&S Minesweeper is very fine.A simple acetone test will dertermine if the finish is original or not.

Regards,Martin.

Agree. If any doubt about the MS, just try acetone. It looks like a typical excellent conditon RSS to me. This badge really held a nice obverse and reverse finish. John

[mrg]

The front of the RS&S looks spot on for this maker, as for the reverse looks alittle bright but I think that could just be the effects of the flash or light angle, would not worry me any, all the best

[John R.]

Steve,

Your RSS is fine IMO. This is the way this badge looks when you use a flash. If you did not use a flash and used natural lighting outside, it would look a bit different, but not much.

Here is a comparison with another RSS MS reverse, there is no difference except how the picture was taken.

John

[Mike Kenny]

Imo the RS Destroyer is a nice unmessed with example and the RSS Minesweeper is an original tomabk example that appears to me to have been heavily cleaned.

Regards
Mike

[STEVIEBOY491]

Ok then.

Before i get dirty and start, I have a few questions:

I assume that I can use nail varnish remover for this test? as it is basically acetone.

Secondly, why acetone? i assume that modern paint will rub off whereas original finish will stop.

Regards

Steve

[STEVIEBOY491]

Hi there,

Further to this I have taken shots in natural (gloomy british) light with no flash.

Regards

Steve

[STEVIEBOY491]

The back - a little less shine!

[Seewolf]

I stay to my opinion, it´s repainted. The scratches on the fountain are silver, too.
At a not repainted piece we would see the tombak and not the silver finish.

And what about the big paint blob on the backside near the eagles head?

Please try the aceton test, then you know exactly if it´s repainted or not.

[STEVIEBOY491]

Ok,

Got a little impatient and got the nail varnish remover out. With a q tip I dabbed the stuff on and rubbed quite vigourously and noted that nothing happened. I rubbed the right had side, see pic if you can see a difference. Also I have rubbed the eagles head and still nothing comes off.

[Jeff V]

If the finish did not come off with nail polish remover (which is lacquer thinner based and a lot more agressive than acetone) then the finish is original.
best wishes,
jeff

[John R.]

Ok,

Got a little impatient and got the nail varnish remover out. With a q tip I dabbed the stuff on and rubbed quite vigourously and noted that nothing happened. I rubbed the right had side, see pic if you can see a difference. Also I have rubbed the eagles head and still nothing comes off.

OK, I have to say something here. First, you can't be impatient with some "test" just because a few people have voiced opinions on your badge that it somehow has been messed with.

You must think about it a bit.

Martin said acetone, not nail varnish remover but said the badge was OK without the test. Mike said it might have been cleaned, nothing about using anything on the finish. I told you it was OK and did a side by side for you with an original badge.

Second, you never use nail varnish remover!!!! You use acetone--acetone is not nail varnish remover. Even with acetone, you do not put it on a side of the reverse, you would test the edge of a small area.

You are very lucky you did not ruin a great badge. The badge I posted next to yours is one I have inspected closely in hand and it is the same as yours and certainly not repainted or messed with in any way. RSS just made a great early war MS badge.

If you had used nail polish remover on many other tombak badges you could have ruined the reverse. If you had used it on a zinc badge, it would be ruined as we speak. Acetone would be less risky for sure, but if applied to half the reverse, a zinc badge would have probably been adversely affected.

You are lucky, you did not ruin this badge. My recommendation is to leave it alone and do not worry about it anymore.

For all the readers out there, do not use nail polish remover on any badge especially zinc badges. With tombak, careful application of acetone is possible but in hand you should be able to readily determine if it has been repainted or not.

This one is fine--your use of nail polish remover proved that. If there was any paint on that badge, it would have come off. It was not necessary IMO to do, but you did it, and now you know it is OK.

John

[STEVIEBOY491]

John,

Point taken! I feel suitably stupid. Thanks for your help and advice.

Regards

Steve

[John R.]

John,

Point taken! I feel suitably stupid. Thanks for your help and advice.

Regards

Steve

We all get impatient, no exceptions. Just how you control that impatience is the trick. Look at how people rip into their packages--I knew a guy that used a razor knife to open a box and within was a leather custom made motorcycle jacket. Yep, a nice line through it.

Main thing, no matter who says what, me, a person with 15,000 posts (most of which probably mean nothing), anybody, you need to not let anybody pressure you into anything--this is just a forum, a place where people can venture forth with any opinion they want and usually do.

However, it is not their item. It takes time to know who knows what around here. I can also say that when you take a little badge, blow it up to the size of your computer screen, you will see all kinds of things that will lead you to the wrong conclusion--like scratches. Sure, blow it up and it looks like a gouge when it really is nothing at all but a little wear on a tiny warbadge.

I do note the two members that thought it might be repainted did not say test it for that opinion. That was wise. They said they thought it was repainted, not it was repainted. The testing decision needs to be made by the owner after due reflection IMO.

Look at some members that decided to polish their daggers and regretted it. Sometimes it seems like such a good idea, but in the end, it turns out to be a bigger project than envisioned and one probably that needs an expert to accomplish.

Same with the tally thread that is running. These tallies can be washed, but I stated (clearly I hope) that nobody should try it. It takes special soap, not available I think outside of Germany, and a special technique to do or it will be ruined.

Well, your badge is not ruined, so no damage done and a good and educational thread and the finish question I think should be laid to rest.

John

[Ludwig]

Good advises, John!