Named PZ Officers Visor / VET ESTATE FIND

[Z19]

Straight out of local estate find yesterday. This thing has been stored folded in his footlocker for 70 years!! I think I found the owner of the cap, a Knights Cross winner!! Check out the link..

http://books.google.com/books?id=liT...rhardt&f=false

[Z19]

PZ Visor pics

pics

[Z19]

Visor pics / last ones

pics

[Waffenreich]

Alex,

That is an awesome find and with a very small amount of work you could have a totally righteous cap.

You are absolutely correct that this is RKT Rudolf Gerhardt's cap. As the book says he was with Pz-Abt 66 and then went back to Pz Rgt 7. He was awarded the RK on 22 Sep 41 as CO of II/Pz Rgt 7.

Here's an ironic/weird twist - he passed away on the 26th anniversary of the formation of Panzer-Abteilung 66 (10 November). This is also the day/year I was born.

I'm sending you a PM, not to pester you about buying the hat, but with an offer of help.

vr

Bob

[Leroy]

A great find!

Here's some more information (from a different forum). Not sure who to credit it to as it was shown there without attribution.

[JackHun]

What an amazing find! Thank you for showing!

Jack

[jacquesf]

This is a VERY nice find. J

[B. N. Singer]

Bravo!! Congratulations!

B. N. Singer

[Larry F.]

Great job Alex!

[Kreager]

Fantastic!!!!

[stonemint]

Alex, fantastic find, and an easy restoration job --congrats!

[John Hodgin]

Jackpot Alex, congrats! Wonder were the insignia ended up. Being a "go getter" pays off!

[MLH13]

Terrific find! Congrats!

[Waffenreich]

With Alex's consent I am posting an update to this Thread.

Alex was kind enough to send the hat to me in the hope we could breath some life back into it.

I went to Lowe's (U.S. home improvement supply store) and bought a thin tin grate. The sheet is about 36" x 24" and rolls up nicely as you can see. I basically roll this to a smaller diameter than the hat, then insert it into the hat to the just above the upper edge of the band and slowly release pressure on it to allow it to expand out until the band comes back to its round/oval shape. I use this grate vs. a piece of bendable plastic sheet as it allows the inside and band to breath (a necessity for what is coming in a minute. After I get the right diameter I wrap the tube in tabe and a couple of twisty ties (nothing highly scientific here).

To clean the hat I mix a solution of luke warm water, Woolite, and Oxy Clean. Regardless of what some uninformed members of WAF will say - neither Woolite nor Oxy Clean will cause textiles to glow!!!!! I use a soft toothbrush and dip it into the solution, trying to use the foamy head on the solution. I tap the excess off the brush onto a towel and then while holding the hat in my hand I brush the hat in one direction. This will lift almost all of the dirt out of the material. Once done I take a damp towel that has had all of the water rung out of it and wipe the hat in one direction to even out/lift any residual solution loose dirt etc..

There is only so much you can do with a broken cap band, but when it is bent and wrinkled you can straighten it back out. Before I start working on the band I insert a strip of aluminum foil between the sweatband and cap lining along the inside. Although the shaping process does not soak the band there is a chance excess moisture can get into the sweatband from cracks in the cap band so this will keep it from making contact with it. While still holding the hat in one hand I run some very hot tap water and dip my fingers in it making a small cup for the water and transfer small amounts to the cap band. I get the band damp and start working the internal cardboard stiffner to get it straight again. This pretty much means just applying pressure in the opposite direction, pushing out depressions, etc.. Once I am satisfied I can't help it anymore I slide it down on to the tin tube. This gives the hat the oval shape it had when it was made.

Back to the tube now and why I go with this vs. a sheet of bendable plastic. When the hat is on the tube with a damp band I use a hairdryer on the hot setting to dry the band. I basically keep the dryer about 6" away from the band and just go back-and-forth rotating the cap so as to not get it too hot in one area. The reason I use the tin grate is because the holes in it allows the heat to dissipate and the hat to breath from the inside out, thus helping with keeping the temperature inside the cap reasonably consistent so the celluloid shield in the crown doesn't melt etc. After about 5 - 10 minutes of blow drying I just set it away someplace so it can set overnight (still on the tube). In the ideal world you can remove the cap and it will have regained its structural integrity and sit on a table the way it originally was meant to. The breaks in the band really can't be corrected without grafting on a scab of cardstock on the band between it and the lining (an option I did not discuss with Alex as this hat should not be altered structurally, just revived).

Alex provided the eagle and I matched a cockade and cord to it and here it is. Tomorrow it goes back out to Alex. As much as I hate to see it go I want to sincerely thank Alex for having the trust in me to send a piece of this significance to me and giving me the opportunity to handle it and help revive it.

Here are a couple of before and after pics. The hat was much dirtier in-hand than the pics indicate. You can see where the eagle was the color difference between it and the surrounding area. Also, this hat smelled like something was dead in that trunk - I mean it was atrocious. The Woolite took all of that away.

vr

Bob

[Waffenreich]

B/a 1