Hi again Dom:
First, don't beat yourself up for not figuring out what is real and what isn't. There are always going to be wings where even the "experts" disagree on originality. Collectors will tell you, it's often hard to determine solely with photos; one has to have the wing in your hand and actually heft it to get a true feel. You look at the texture of the material, how it bends, the type of glue which holds the backing if present, thread material and count, etc. and even then, you can't be certain. It's possible too I suppose that the wing itself is original but, for some reason, someone has added modern backing material.
I often still go to members of the BBF and fellow collectors to ask their advice when I buy wings. It gets harder each decade to detect the fakes, particularly with the expensive wings (RFC and early RAF). Replicas are made and artificially aged to look old. Threads are added around the edge to give the impression they have been removed from uniforms.
I don't really collect RAF wings per se so I'll leave your latest example for someone else to comment on.
Just my thoughts.
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05-11-17, 03:55 PM
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