rs uboat badge

[Terry OToole]

hi guys , could you provide some opinions on this please ? buyer is saying its a fake , if indeed it is I need to re-fund quickly

[Terry OToole]

I must point out the gooey stuff is Vaseline

[Norm F]

Hi Terry,

Sorry to say, this is the high-quality Staegemeir cast fake Souval that has fooled many a collector and even worked its way into at least one reference book. It's typically vaulted, has always the same linear scoring in the reverse and identical surface irregularities. Also the round-wire pin has incorrect tooling marks and the round-wire catch is incorrectly soldered compared with genuine Souvals.

The angular font "R.S." U-Boat badges are quite rare (the round font being the most common) but this particular fake vastly outnumbers the real ones. It was obviously cast from an original badge that had been scored from hand vaulting, so now all the "clones" have the same feature.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Here's an original for comparison:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=805542

Best regards,
---Norm

[Terry OToole]

thanks for that norm . certainly caught me out ,I ll refund the buyer

[Andy C.]

Terry is a honest member, thanks mate.

[Norm F]

Here's the old thread from 2010 when this type was first discussed.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=469849

Best regards,
---Norm

[Martin W]

Way to go Terry.

Good on you mate .

[Norm F]

Some images from the old thread showing the identical surface defects in two examples of the cast fake. You can also appreciate the slight "cupping" or concavity of the reverse and the irregular surface which are casting defects that were improved on later Staegemeir products.

[Norm F]

The production of the fake RS U-boat is very much like the Staegemeir fake Hymmen Minesweeper from the same era. Same colouring and features of slight cupping of the reverse with reproducible surface defects between examples. The later Staegemeir fake IAB uses the same reverse setup and fake L/53 mark but has figured out ways to improve the texture of the reverse surface.

[BubbaZ]

I agree, this RS u-boat is well made but doubtless fake
Cheers,
Hubert