New Minesweeper Badge

[kfs]

I want to show you my new MS
for my Collection

[ValhallaMilitaria]

And the crazy thing is that my fake one looks more 'real'.....badges...easily the hardest area of TR collecting fakewise.

[BubbaZ]

Hi kfs,
I cannot see the hinge area but otherwise heavily worn orignal tombak Minesweeper attributed to unknown Gablonz maker 'AS in triangle', most likely Adolf Scholze.
I enclose my badge for comparison.
Cheers,
Hubert

[Norm F]

Hi Mirco,

I agree with Hubert. An original type 3.2.1 in the minesweeper classification table. The original finish on these is more subdued and less "golden" than on other makers and has worn off most tombak examples. When it remains the gilding is not unlike that seen on the later zincers.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Thomas Durante]

Nice worn badge! I can only agree with Hubert & Norm, a fine original.

Tom

[Mike Kenny]

Re finish, there are several makers that imo did not fire-gild their tombak badges, unlike Schwerin and Assmann, etc. Mayer, these ?Meybauers and RK used what appears to be a non-frosted gilt plating instead.

Regards
Mike

[Norm F]

Re finish, there are several makers that imo did not fire-gild their tombak badges, unlike Schwerin and Assmann, etc. Mayer, these ?Meybauers and RK used what appears to be a non-frosted gilt plating instead.

Regards
Mike

Hi Mike,

Just to expand a bit on the differences in gilding of Tombak Minesweeper badges.

The Meybauer Minesweeper (first attachment) used a classic fire gilding similar to their Berlin neighbour Schwerin and like you say Assmann in Lüdenscheid (second attachment). Hard to say what Deumer and F.L.L. used on their tombak versions since I've only handled very worn examples but these may have been fire gilt as well.

Like you say, in contrast, the S&L, Schickle/Mayer and Juncker tombak Minesweepers used a smoother, "non-frosty" and presumably cheaper gilding process. P&L used an almost paint-like yellow-toned gilding.

Finally, the Gablonz-made tombak Minesweepers, R.S.S., R.K. and A.S.-attributed (the one featured in this thread) used a smooth gilding that was the least durable of all, such that most examples have lost their finish completely, especially the R.S.S. and the A.S.-attributed badges. The shades are distinctive as well in that the R.K. often has an almost caramel tone to its finish while these A.S.-attributed badges have a lighter slightly olive tone similar to the later zinc "AS in triangle" versions. Usually you just see the raw tombak colour after the finish is lost since it didn't adhere to the tombak well.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Mike Kenny]

Sorry Norm, I confused things by accident when I wrote Meybauer above (had them on my mind for some reason) in reference to the badge at the top of the thread.

Regards
Mike

[Liquidmetall]

Hello,
i can't stand still in this article, I'm sure RK and Deumer have fire gilt!
BH Mayer/Schickle I think....
I have two RK in mint you can see the first is a red color gilt (red color for tombak ground metall) the second is a yellow gilt (yellow color for messing) both with burnished highlights.
Fire gilt is a "alloy" with gold and the base metall (base metall with more cooper = reddish gilt)

Sorry for my english I was not the best!!!


BR Marcus

[Liquidmetall]

BH Mayer/Schickle and Deumer

[Liquidmetall]

Fll

[Liquidmetall]

I'm sure all the badges shown by me are fire gilt....

The other one better the worse.

BR Marcus

[Norm F]

Hi Marcus,

I'm so glad you didn't "stand still". It's always a pleasure to see you post badges from your marvellous collection.

Thanks for verifying the finish on the Deumer and FLL. I suspected they were fire gilt but couldn't say for sure because one never finds specimens as nice as yours to see it. It's also possible that the tombak S&L was fire gilt but again I can't find a mint example to verify it.

I'm still not quite convinced about the RK though since the finish is much smoother and less granular than the obvious fire gilding of Schwerin and Meybauer. But perhaps that's just a different way of preparing the mixture before application? Likewise the finish on the Schickle/Mayer badges (which are very common) seems very smooth. It would be nice to have a lab analysis of the finish of these badges.

Best regards,
---Norm