Unknown maker RO/AG with a twist

[Philippe DB]

What's the silver paint..,some Humbrol..?
Jos.

Hi Guys,

Glad to read you all share my feelings about this badge, it's indeed unique and you can only wonder why it was ever manufacturered.

Jos very good question and I will study that reverse paint some more tonight. Although it looks like it was crudely added on to the badge I think that it is an original finish. There are no traces of it to be found on the observe but on the other hand the reverse ones must have been fully coated with it. If you look carefully you can see traces of it alover the hardware incuding the pin. The catch solder is nicely covered with it as are the rivets. It has a very strange wear pattern to it that indeed makes you wonder if it wasn't added to the badge at a later point. But what could have been the reason for doing this? As you can see the other finish layer is perfectly intact apart from some thiny little scratches where the Cupal shines through. And if somebody was playing around with Humbrol why not continue on the obverse.At this moment i really think that it is a period finish.

KR
Philippe

@Skipy, don't despair I let you hold here in Stuttgart and as you know you have some PAB's I'm stil missing

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Philippe, awesome find . It is an absolutely beautiful and rare bird.

The addition of an extra layer of finish on the reverse is strange. Maybe they added it to help protect reverse finish from wear, rubbing up and down on the uniform all day. That doesn't really make sense, as this extra finish would be protecting a layer that is covered up anyway, with the protective finish . Just thinking out loud here.

Tom D.

[Joseph D'Errico]

Hi Philippe,

Question, is this the only cupal LW piece that you have seen ? It is for me, just wondering.

Cheers,
Joe

[Philippe DB]

Hi Joe,


Not so long ago a para badge was posted featuring a cupal eagle. Don't have acces to my files but I'll take a look tonight. A Cupal wreath is something I have never seen on a LW badge.

KR
Philippe

[Tim B.]

Hi Philippe!

Nice badge! A question for you on it. Are you sure it's CupAl or does it appear that the wreath might have been cleaned with a chemical tarnish remover at some point in time? The reason I ask is that some of these earlier badges (so-called tombak) have a chemical make-up that actually turns from the golden yellow or brass color that we normally associate with "tombak" into a more reddish or copper color when cleaned with a chemical base tarnish remover.

I know products like "Tarn-X" will do this to some badges, especially the JMME pieces, but have seen it happen on Juncker pieces as well. Just curious? There is a way to safely reverse this, but not for open discussion.
Tim

[Philippe DB]

Hi Tom,


Thanks for your reaction. I relation to the wreath's material I'm absolutely confident that is is Cupal. Hi do I know well first I have some Cupal made badges in my colection that allow met to compare the color and feel. Second with only 13 grams it can't be anything els than Cupal. A tombak wreath without an eagle would easely weigh more than 13 grams. I know the tombak discoloration you are talking about but that will be very dark brown not to be compared with the shine of cupal.

@Jos, You had a point the second paint layer on the reverse was indeed Humbrol. After a little test with my wifes nail Polish remover the cue tip turned silver. So I took a chance and just removed all I could. This is how it looks now. Only stupid thing is that you see a difference in patina. The area's where the silver paint sat are more bright now. Also there is no finish remaining on the catch solder so I guess the paint maybe was applied to disguise a catch re-attachement.

KR
Philippe