RS&S Minesweeper

[mrg]

Always been happy with this one.

[mrg]

oops better with picture

[mrg]

One of the harder ones to find. Will have to make a descison on these

[BubbaZ]

Hi Gary,
Original and hard to find as you've said but I am suspicious about this metallic finish. I have seen on dealers site in England several different badges refinished this way. I might be wrong but your RSS and LM Minesweeper which you are offering on estand were refinished by the same guy.
I enclose my RSS for comparison - note the grey finish of the waves on my badge.
Cheers,
Hubert

[BubbaZ]

Here is your LM Minesweeper, also refinished IMHO.
Cheers,
Hubert

[BubbaZ]

To illustrate what I mean I will post several badges refinished in the same manner.
Here is refinished Deumer zinc u-boat.
H.

[BubbaZ]

Refinished Deumer zinc Minesweeper.
H.

[BubbaZ]

Refinished zinc Schwerin Minesweeper.
H.

[BubbaZ]

Another refinished Schwerin zincer.
H.

[BubbaZ]

Refinished raiters badge and Aurich CAB.
Cheers,
Hubert

[Norm F]

Hi Guys,

While I agree with Hubert's postings of re-finished badges, and I too fear the LM finish does not appear "life-like" for this maker, the R.S.S. story is somewhat different.

The gilding on the R.S.S. Minesweepers is virtually absent on almost all examples -- it simply didn't last it seems. In contrast, there did seem to be a hardy bright metallic plating on the water column. Most examples have been heavily cleaned and/or polished.

Hubert's R.S.S. in post #4 is one of the least worn and least messed-with of any I've seen, and has it's patina of age and oxidation on the reverse undisturbed -- very unusual since most have been unable to resist polishing up the silvering.

I don't think Gary's badge at the top of the thread was re-finished in the manner of the other badges that Hubert posted. All the re-finished badges have a nice shiny metallic gilding applied to them while Gary's is the typical polished raw tombak wreath without such "enhancement". (The stippling on the interior of each leaf on the wreath is a feature unique to R.S.S. and gives the illusion of retained gilding.)

The shininess of the water column and waves is typical of an R.S.S. that has been polished in my view, and you can see the raw tombak showing through on the highlights of the water column and on the main pin on the reverse -- something you wouldn't see on a refinished badge. I'd feel better if there was some dark oxidation left on the waves, but suspect the oxidation has simply been removed rather than the waves refinished.

Here's mine too for comparison - heavily worn with a lot of Tombak showing on the water column but you still see that what silvering remains is quite shiny.

Best regards,
---Norm

[John R.]

While I agree with most of what Norm has said, there are some very nice RSS badges out there.

Like this one.

John

[John R.]

2

[mrg]

Hi guys thanks for the comments. I have to say that the RS&S has had no re-finish and is 100% as it should be. Will have to look at the LM again but again can see no evidence of a refinish and is in keeping with finishes of that period. Have shown both these before with no concerns from anyone so am i little suprised. Oh well that the nature of a forum Have to say always been 100% happy with these.

[Norm F]

Hi Gary,

Like I say I have no problems with your R.S.S. -- a very nice example.

Finishes are always a tricky topic, and you'll notice that variations in finish are omitted from the Minesweeper Classification Table. As for the LM, here are a couple more examples of the typical finish on an LM. These were usually given a silver undercoating on the whole badge and then gilded over top of the whole reverse, which usually wears off. They don't generally have that pristine metallic finish seen on yours. The difference is further highlighted by the plating of the hardware.

Best regards,
---Norm