vintageproductions Posted October 22, 2007 Share #1 Posted October 22, 2007 Does anyone recognize this maker? It is a full size aerial gunners but is lead filled. The backing has small circles with what look like stars in the circle patterns. These came out of a great source with a beautiful snowflake backed Balloon pilot wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pconrad02 Posted October 22, 2007 Share #2 Posted October 22, 2007 Looks kind of like a "flat" GEMSCO Pattern, I have a few AAF Q badges with that background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted October 22, 2007 Share #3 Posted October 22, 2007 Humm... a double shoulder type with the winged shell slightly offset to one side. I will have to think about this after work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted October 22, 2007 Share #4 Posted October 22, 2007 Humm... a double shoulder type with the winged shell slightly offset to one side. I will have to think about this after work... Hi Bob, To be honest, this almost looks like the "econlead" type insignia that I sometimes see for the WWII shooting bagdes and the qualification bars. They have that sort of 'star' burst pattern. As for this particular pattern wing, it was a common pattern used pre- WWII. Amcraft and LBG used this pattern with the distinctive shoulder. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share #5 Posted October 22, 2007 Paul & Patrick, Thanks for the info. When you look at them in hand the are very similar to the Q-bar badges, like you mentioned. Patrick, you will appreciate this, they came out of a jewelery box at Long Beach Vet's stadium yesterday. Thanks again guys. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted October 22, 2007 Share #6 Posted October 22, 2007 Paul & Patrick, Thanks for the info. When you look at them in hand the are very similar to the Q-bar badges, like you mentioned.Patrick, you will appreciate this, they came out of a jewelery box at Long Beach Vet's stadium yesterday. Thanks again guys. Bob Howdy Bob I heard about lots of goodies at LB flea yesterday that I missed out on--sigh. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted October 23, 2007 Share #7 Posted October 23, 2007 Patrick - maybe you can shed some light on this but now that I am home and can think a bit more about this... SInce the AG wing did not get auth unitl 1943 and this is the double shoulder pattern as I mentioned in my 1st post which dates to 1920-21 and if I am not mistaken Balfour was the first to production... How many makers used this pattern in mid 1943 and later? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted October 23, 2007 Share #8 Posted October 23, 2007 Patrick - maybe you can shed some light on this but now that I am home and can think a bit more about this... SInce the AG wing did not get auth unitl 1943 and this is the double shoulder pattern as I mentioned in my 1st post which dates to 1920-21 and if I am not mistaken Balfour was the first to production... How many makers used this pattern in mid 1943 and later? John I assume that it is an observer base wing with the gunner device added. So it could be from any number of sources. Many gunner wings (as well as medical, bombardier, etc) used the observer base. The observer wings could have been old stock or new stock made using old dies. Since this is a lead-filled wing, it could have been cast from an earlier wing. It is hard to say. The pattern is typcially seen with pre-war wings, but it wouldnt be unheard of for a wing to be made later using the older base. Does that make sense? Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted October 23, 2007 Share #9 Posted October 23, 2007 Roger that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pconrad02 Posted October 23, 2007 Share #10 Posted October 23, 2007 OK this was driving me crazy, it could also be a Vanguard "pattern": http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/usaaf/senior...rdsrpilot.shtml Although I understand they used a lot of other folks dies. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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