M.O.D. Guard Service Gilt badge
 

Hi,
Can anyone tell me when this badge was issued and to whom.
Never seen one in Gilt before. Definitely Gilt and not tarnished.
Will be for sale.
Many thanks
Andy

It was never worn with that finish. The badge as issued should be chrome plated. It has more than likely been rejected (for some reason) in the pre-chroming inspection process, and thrown in the scrap bid. Some individual has "rescued" it and removed it from the factory. The finish, as it is, is a basic brass not gilt.

Dave.

Duplicate post.

Surely, if it was rejected before the chrome-plating stage, it would not have reached the stage where the enamel was applied.

The enamel is applied before chrome plating.

Dave.

Should look like this with description from JSP768
MOD Guard Service - Insignia, Organisational. Cap. All Ranks. MOD Guard Service. Metal. Chromium plated. Red, blue and yellow enamelled finish. NSN 8455-99-978-8514
Tim

That's a new one on me. I would be interested to know how that works.

Enamelling requires the application of very high heat to melt the enamelling powder which turns to liquid and which runs and fills the area to which its applied. After the enamelling has been applied to all areas, the face of the badge is then put on a grinder to take the enamelling down to an appropriate level. When this is done the badge is then fired again so that the ground down enamelling runs smooth. When this is completed to the satisfaction of the operative, the badge is examined for any defects. If there are none found the badge is then finished by plating, chrome, silver or whatever.

If you apply high heat to a chrome plated badge it will discolour usually turning to a shade of blue. So, to avoid this the enamelling and the soldering of fittings etc. takes place before plating, which is the final part of the process.

Dave.

Very interesting Dave. So, I gather then that the chrome plating will not adhere to the enameled areas?

Terry

Spot on!

Dave.

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who replied, in particular Dave with his knowledge of manufacturing such a badge.

My reason for posting on here was because I am familiar with the New Metal/Chromium Plated badge but had never seen a Gilt one.

This was different, hence me asking the question. In my opinion, I still believe it is has had a Gilt finish applied, as it differs in colour to the slider, which is brass.

Thanks again,

Andy

Dave, thanks for that, I am now a wiser man than I was before. I have always thought the enamelling came last, you never stop learning that's for sure.:)

Its quite normal for the slider (on an unplated/unchromed badge) to be of a slightly different coloured medal to the badge itself. The basic badge will have been stamped out of a sheet of brass. The sliders are made separately and will have been stamped out of a different sheet of brass. The manufacturers will have a stock of several thousands of sliders which will be used on perhaps a hundred or more batches of different badges. So what you have in effect is the marriage of two pieces (the badge and the slider), both from different sources of metal. Hence, two different brass colours. To reiterate, your badge (and slider) is unplated base brass.

Dave.

Hi Dave,

Excellent information. I think your knowledge of modern badge manufacturing has not only enlightened me, but I suspect many others.

Thanks again for taking the time to contribute.

Andy