Waffenrock boards - might the piping & numbers be dyed?

[Mark_K]

Hi everyone,

I was looking at an artillerie unteroffizier waffenrock, and a lot about it looks good. The cuff tabs and collar tabs are nicely-toned silver wire, the breast eagle looks like a nice hand-embroidered variant, but I'm not sure about the shoulderboards. The piping, and particularly the numerals, do not look like a 'true' red. They look a little pink. Is there a chance that they might be infanterie boards that someone has tried to convert to artillerie by dying the piping and numerals? Apologies for the quality of the photos.

Any thoughts will be most appreciated.

Many thanks,

Mark

[Mark_K]

More pics.

[Mark_K]

Cuff detail, showing that the toned silver tabs lie under the cuff tresse.

[pauke]

Waffenrock

With private purchase uniforms it is possible that the colors are off a little. The first thing to do is look inside toward the bottom of the lining for an acceptance stamp that would indicate the unit. If it has a unit marking from that regiment then the straps are likely original to the tunic.

[CWP]

They look OK to me. Different period dyes age differently. It could be that all the red-piped insignia items were the same color in 1936 but that the dye on the boards has faded over time.

[Fred Green]

Greetings Mark,

I agree with what has been said about the dyes. Different dye lots fade differently. The boards are a nice private purchase pair as you can tell with the piping and the number.

Take a close look at the seam between the piping and the board body propre. See if you can see the base or tail of the piping. Generally when somebody redies boards there is overcast or spillage some place on the board. The tail won't get the dye either. It appears to me as two different materials fading at different levels.

Fred

[Johnny R]

This is normal to see and I agree about the dyes fading differently. It looks like all the insignia was handmade by a Tailor using EM boards and factory litzen. I would say it is all original period done. This one with that early eagle was probably from 1935-36 and looks very nice.

[Fred Green]

This is normal to see and I agree about the dyes fading differently. It looks like all the insignia was handmade by a Tailor using EM boards and factory litzen. I would say it is all original period done. This one with that early eagle was probably from 1935-36 and looks very nice.

[DonC]

I really don't see anything that would indicate they are dyed - I think they are quite nice!

Don

[John Walker]

Actually, with what I see, that is one great looking waffenrock.I would like to see what is under the hood.

[Mark_K]

Hi everyone,

Many thanks for looking at the rock, and for your enlightening comments. It can be hard to tell sometimes what might be the work of time - as in different dyes fading at different rates over a seventy-year period - and what might be the handiwork of someone 'rebuilding' a tunic from component parts. I think the ability to tell between them is what really marks out an expert. The feedback here illustrates that perfectly. What makes it difficult is the fact that so many tunics have been monkeyed with since the war. However, the overwhelmingly positive views of this waffenrock show that the pictures do not show anything to be worried about, and that is very useful indeed.

Thanks again, and have a good week.

Mark