MasonK Posted January 23, 2012 Share #1 Posted January 23, 2012 Hi All, I have been looking for a set of ARVN Basic Parachutists wings for a VN display I am working on. I found these two sets and to be honest, know very little about this style of wing. Any help in identifying if these are authentic, theatre made, or any other details that I should be looking for, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share #2 Posted January 23, 2012 Here is the second set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted January 23, 2012 Share #3 Posted January 23, 2012 Here is the second set. These I believe are what,s known as Sand Casted badges, a type made in the RVN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted January 23, 2012 These I believe are what,s known as Sand Casted badges, a type made in the RVN. Thank you, sir. Makes sense that these would be made in SVN considering these are the more expensive set! Any opinion on the first set of wings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted January 24, 2012 Share #5 Posted January 24, 2012 Don't hate me for saying this, but I have doubts about both of them. If you can find a copy of it, I highly recommend Harry Pugh's book "Insignia of the Republic of Vietnam Army Ariborne Division". It has a great section wings as well as other insignia. ARVN and VNAF metal insignia have been reproduced since the phoney souveniers have been coming out of Vietnam in the early 1990's. Let's start with #2. I agree it is sand cast. Compared to originals, the details are really thick and clunky. I really don't like that extra lump at the left top of the parachute.. probably the result of poor casting. There doesn't look to be much of a finish on this, where the originals were chromed or silver. You have almost no details in the parachute, and the wing roots look very thick. The edges do not look well finished. Going back to #1, this looks like another variation of cast. Again compared to originals the design details are very poor. You can see the rough, pockmarked surfaces deep into the metal. Looking on the backside you can see how poorly the edge is finished around the top of the parachute on the left side. Metal badges do show wear over time but these pockmarks look original to the casting. I am guessing the maker took 1 original, pressed it into a mold and made dozens more. There is a tendancy to think of Vietnamese made insignia as poor in quality. But more often than not, that is not the case. You have to remember the ARVN Airborne were the elite of their Army. They took pride in how they looked, and I doubt either of these badges would have passed muster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted January 24, 2012 Thank you for your evaluation and input, Gil. I truly do appreciate it! I'm not much of a collector when it comes to wings (I dabble in WWII Aerial Gunner wings) and don't foresee myself becoming one. I'm more of a headgear enthusiast, although for this display I'm working on (a KIA medal grouping for a soldier in 5th SFG) I want to obtain period examples of his missing insignia and awards. This wing and two medals are all that are missing at this point, and with your input I'll feel better for not dropping money on one of these two fakes. I have to say my assumption, as you said, was to expect a lessor quality in the design and cast. Looks like I'm back to the drawing board, though and will have to study some original examples before taking the plunge! This wing and a period example of the Vietnam Campaign medal are proving very hard to find. I can understand the wing, but the campaign medal confuses me as I would think they'd be in abundance. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFMike Posted January 24, 2012 Share #7 Posted January 24, 2012 There was a difference in regular ARVN wings and LLDB wings. A lot of SF guys did not even know that, and both were not always available. Guys out in the camps and on projects were pretty far from such things. We usually grabbed whatever we thought was right or available to put on newly issued class A's when going home or RR. A lot of that stuff got worn only once or twice by guys who did not reenlist. 1st example here is identical to one I got given to me in RVN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCRECON Posted January 24, 2012 Share #8 Posted January 24, 2012 I've never seen official wings looking like that. I had two pairs issued to me over time while in Nam. Each is different from the other; one is solid but made of a softer metal. The other is thin stamped metal but neither is sand-cast. I've personally never seen a sand-cast pair of these wings but, you could go into virtually any ville and buy crappy beer-can DUIs and home-made wings and cast badges of all sorts. These look about as crude as any pair of wings I've ever seen but I have seen crapph Vietnamese-made stuff so I can't say with certainty if this particular pair is legit or not. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vietvet7071 Posted January 25, 2012 Share #9 Posted January 25, 2012 How about these? They are for sale. Send a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share #10 Posted January 25, 2012 How about these?They are for sale. Send a PM. Thanks for the offer however I'm specifically looking for a set of Basic wings whereas yours would be Senior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted January 25, 2012 Share #11 Posted January 25, 2012 Thanks for the offer however I'm specifically looking for a set of Basic wings whereas yours would be Senior. You may want to try Bob Chatt at Vintage Productions (http://www.vintageproductions.com/). He is a forum member/moderator here. I believe that he is considered one of the best and most knowledgeable when it comes to this era and may have one for sale. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share #12 Posted January 25, 2012 You may want to try Bob Chatt at Vintage Productions (http://www.vintageproductions.com/). He is a forum member/moderator here. I believe that he is considered one of the best and most knowledgeable when it comes to this era and may have one for sale. Patrick Thanks, Patrick. Bob's site was the first I checked as I know he specializes in the more obscure or not so easy to obtain Vietnam items. Unfortunately, he has none available at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share #13 Posted January 25, 2012 Hi All, I have another set of wings for review. These appear to be well made (much better than the first two) and have the plastic catches synonymous with others I have seen made in the RVN. The person selling them is a trusted source however I thought it better to err on the side of caution. Please let me know your opnions. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCRECON Posted January 26, 2012 Share #14 Posted January 26, 2012 How about these?They are for sale. Send a PM. The straighter winged ones were the ARVN Ranger/SF/Marine wings and the one with the more curves wing were the style normally associated with the ARVN Airborne units, if I remember correctly. It's hard to tell from the small pictures but these look kine the solid, soft metal pair that I was issued. They originally came with similar plastic/vinyl clutch buttons as well but they were more of a silver/gray color. They wouldn't stay in the posts and I trashed them shortly after getting them for a pair of standard US brass clutches. I might be interested if I could see some better pictures of them. What are you asking for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share #15 Posted January 27, 2012 I thought I would bump this thread to see if anyone could provide their feedback on the latest set of wings I posted. I think they are good but would like to hear opinions of others. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8240th A.U. Posted February 10, 2012 Share #16 Posted February 10, 2012 Definitely looks like the LLDB (SVN Special Forces) variation, with the more elongated wings. I would guess original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nguoi tien su Posted February 10, 2012 Share #17 Posted February 10, 2012 Hello, I have to disagree with Gil. The first pair is a perfect sandcast. Right as rain LLDB wings. The variety of quality is rather wide with the SVN badges. The second one is the basic copy that had been sold in Saigon since the late 90's. Those on post #9 are modern productions. Finally those on post #13 look OK but a better photo could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonK Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share #18 Posted February 10, 2012 Hello, I have to disagree with Gil. The first pair is a perfect sandcast. Right as rain LLDB wings. The variety of quality is rather wide with the SVN badges. The second one is the basic copy that had been sold in Saigon since the late 90's. Those on post #9 are modern productions. Finally those on post #13 look OK but a better photo could help. Hi niguoi, I wound up purchasing the set in post 13. More detailed photos of it can be found here (post 7). Let me know what you think and thanks in advance for your input! http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...p;#entry1017385 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted February 11, 2012 Share #19 Posted February 11, 2012 Hello, I have to disagree with Gil. The first pair is a perfect sandcast. Right as rain LLDB wings. The variety of quality is rather wide with the SVN badges. The second one is the basic copy that had been sold in Saigon since the late 90's. Those on post #9 are modern productions. Finally those on post #13 look OK but a better photo could help. Well... we only half disagree! LOL! I'll concede that without seeing them in person I may very well have been wrong on the first set. But the second one does look shakey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nguoi tien su Posted February 11, 2012 Share #20 Posted February 11, 2012 we only half disagree! True! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nguoi tien su Posted February 11, 2012 Share #21 Posted February 11, 2012 Hi niguoi,I wound up purchasing the set in post 13. More detailed photos of it can be found here (post 7). Let me know what you think and thanks in advance for your input! http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...p;#entry1017385 They look legit to me. Congrats. Here again, these are not regular ARVN, but LLDB (Lực Lượng Đặc Biệt) South Vietnamese Special Forces wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34BDQ Posted February 15, 2012 Share #22 Posted February 15, 2012 THIS IS A EARLY ARVN AIRBORNE WING AS INDICATED BY THE STAMPED SERIAL NUMBER AND THE FRENCH STYLE FASTENER. AS CAN BE SEEN BY THE DETAILS, IT WAS A STRUCK PIECE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted June 12, 2014 Share #23 Posted June 12, 2014 Okay experts: I've had this wing around for quite a while - it came with the medals, ribbons and other insignia of a Vietnam-era Marine. It it stamped. Is it real? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted June 12, 2014 Share #24 Posted June 12, 2014 Okay experts: I've had this wing around for quite a while - it came with the medals, ribbons and other insignia of a Vietnam-era Marine. It it stamped. Is it real? 1.jpg 2.jpg Yes you have the real McCoy. It is the basic ARVN regular paratrooper wing which is different from the ARVN LLDB Special Forces paratrooper wing. A nice example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted June 12, 2014 Share #25 Posted June 12, 2014 Yes you have the real McCoy. It is the basic ARVN regular paratrooper wing which is different from the ARVN LLDB Special Forces paratrooper wing. A nice example. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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