Rs destroyer

[petopoint]

Hello all, Friend of mine would like opinions on this Rudy Souval Kriegs Destroyers Badge.
Questions regarding its validity as Wartime Mfgr or Post. The reverse shows the same ejection ports found on Wartime compatible, as well as same kind of finish and matching cutouts. It does not have the infamous Post-War C shaped catch seen on most of his Post War examples.
Thanks,
Pete

[petopoint]

RS two

RS two

[Norm F]

Hi Pete,

I'd like to see closeups of the hinge and catch in profile before any definitive statement but so far it looks like a nice "wartime compatible" Souval zinc Destroyer.

But I wouldn't say "most post-war examples" have the obvious post-war "claw catch" -- only the later post-war production. Basically there are three categories of Souval badges:
1) wartime production examples with provenance (rare to get these stories unfortunately)
2) "wartime compatible" examples with wartime construction methods - these could be wartime produced or post-war produced with leftover wartime parts and original wartime tooling - no way to tell them apart since Souval simply carried on his usual business post-April 1945. This is most of the badges we see like your friend's example.
3) Obvious post-war production after running out of wartime hardware and shifting production methods resulting in obvious differences. The "claw catch" examples are in this category.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Ludwig]

No, I don´t like this one. Quality seems to be very bad, even for a Souval piece.

[AndyC]

Painted & Refinished ?


Andy

[Mark McShane]

The badge looks good but as Norm says, when it was put together would be difficult to ascertain, close ups of attachment of hinge and catch to the reverse would be nice.

[BubbaZ]

I also agree, it looks like fine wartime compatible RS but the period of production remains uncertain. Personaly I would feel more comfortable to have one showing some wear.
Cheers,
Hubert

[petopoint]

Thanks

Thanks for your assistance and opinions guys.
When requesting better pics of the areas in question, I had him describe the hinge.
Apparently it is the one-piece molded type found on a lot of his later badges. I'm assuming it may have been old stock with post-war hinge.
Thanks for all the good assessments.
Pete