Hampshire Rgt plastic cap badge - British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum

loupie1961 · #1 16-09-14, 12:07 PM

In my collection I have several plastic badges: this one is a Hampshire Regiment cap badge with a lovely detail. I was just wondering what about faked plastic badges, how do you recognize them, if at all is it possible to recognize them.... thank you much in advance for your opinons, gents!

JerryBB · #2 16-09-14, 12:13 PM

A good original. Only a few of the plastic badges have been faked as far as I am aware and all look obviously wrong of those I have seen, the closest looking to the original example is the Canadian Para badge, but even that has mistakes that make it obviously wrong when compared to an original.

Frank Kelley · #3 16-09-14, 12:50 PM

Hello Jerry,
How much photographic evidence have you seen of these being worn, I have to say that whilst I've never really looked, there are precious few photographs around.
Kind regards Frank

loupie1961 · #4 16-09-14, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

Hello Jerry,
How much photographic evidence have you seen of these being worn, I have to say that whilst I've never really looked, there are precious few photographs around.
Kind regards Frank

Well, I can not really say that the technical standards of WWII photography do always let you tell the difference between a metal or a plastic badge.... but at least one can be sure that a plastic badge would not shine!

JerryBB · #5 16-09-14, 01:12 PM

Frank,

I have seen pictures of wartime plastic badges in use, though as Loupie already mentioned it is not always possible to tell if they are being worn in period images.

I have a GS cap with a plastic RE badge on it named to an officer in the RE which I assume is original to it, it was sold as such.

I also have my fathers cap badge from his service in the 30's through to the 50's and that is the plastic version, though I have to assume it was not the only one he had, as obviously he joined prior to them being issued.

JerryBB · #6 16-09-14, 01:19 PM

This one was posted on another forum by a member of his Dad in WWII which appears to be a plastic badge on a GS cap.

badger123 · #7 16-09-14, 01:22 PM

It is difficult to find photographs of WW2 economy badges being worn but this one to the York and Lancs shows both B/M and plastic badges being worn (see close up).

Ivan

JerryBB · #8 16-09-14, 01:36 PM

At least 8 of these signalers have the dark brown plastic badges on their GS caps. You can see some of them in the detail image. I knew that I had at least one image in my collection showing them in use.

Sonofacqms · #9 16-09-14, 04:44 PM

In answer to the question of faked plastic badges there are very few as far as I know that have been faked, this is a bit of a surprise as certain plastic WWII badges seem to fetch very high prices. This is probably due to the fact that faked badges would be very easy to spot.

I have included a couple of pictures of what I think is a fake plastic Parachute Regt which was painted silver, this would have been one of the easier badges to fake as there is not too much detail. The blades are much thinner gauge brass than the originals and this is the easiest way to spot a fake apart from the general appearance. This may have been made for a re-enactor as there do not seem to be a plague of them turning up.

From conversations with WWII veterans these badges were not popular when issued, the metal ones being more popular and less fragile than some plastics, the Army Educational Corps springs to mind with it's rifle barrels and flags. They did not seem to be that popular with collectors back in the sixties as I remember, how times change . . !

Rob

Frank Kelley · #10 16-09-14, 08:28 PM

Hello Jerry,
Exactly the sort of thing I had in mind, portraits are always interesting and normally, of course, unpublished.
Kind regards Frank

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBBOND

This one was posted on another forum by a member of his Dad in WWII which appears to be a plastic badge on a GS cap.

Frank Kelley · #11 16-09-14, 08:29 PM

Hello Ivan,
Many thanks, very clear in the first photo in particular.
Kind regards Frank

Quote:

Originally Posted by badger123

It is difficult to find photographs of WW2 economy badges being worn but this one to the York and Lancs shows both B/M and plastic badges being worn (see close up).

Ivan

Alan O · #12 17-09-14, 07:37 AM

Fake plastics were being produced by a bloke in the netherlands a few years ago for reenacting purposes. They were poor die casting with poor quality brass strips and were made for those dressing up as WW2 soldiers and not for badge collectors. He made Para regt, AAC, GS and RSIGNALS. Why the last 2 when originals are so cheap is beyond me.

loupie1961 · #13 20-10-14, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan O

Fake plastics were being produced by a bloke in the netherlands a few years ago for reenacting purposes. They were poor die casting with poor quality brass strips and were made for those dressing up as WW2 soldiers and not for badge collectors. He made Para regt, AAC, GS and RSIGNALS. Why the last 2 when originals are so cheap is beyond me.

So I guess this is one of the fake AAC plastic cap badges, or at least, it looks very strongly as such!

Alan O · #14 20-10-14, 09:56 AM

I think that it is OK but that the plastic has degraded and warped. The copies were far worse that that and certainly did not have the maker's name on them.

loupie1961 · #15 20-10-14, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan O

I think that it is OK but that the plastic has degraded and warped. The copies were far worse that that and certainly did not have the maker's name on them.

Good news then... And I must admit that I have paid it peanuts, because of the overall conditions....