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Made in Great Britain #5 ( or is it....?)


Sabrejet
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The forum's wings collectors will probably have seen the four British-made wings I've posted on here in the past week. Here's #5. However....I have my doubts about this one. I've actually had it for at least twenty years now but can't remember exactly where I bought it, from whom, nor how much I paid for it. It's a undoubtedly a very attractive wing with well defined feathering in the British style and has a British style pin/catch, but.......

 

Anyway, see what you think. The first pic below is of an original Ludlow wing so you can compare the two.

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does not seem to be a lot of space between the pin hinge and the catch Ian ? :huh:

 

No there's not Carl. That's one of the anomalies. That said...pinned to a uniform it looks perfect and displays very well indeed.

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this one appears cast to me.. and weren't all Brit wings die-struck?

the details on the front are very convincing...

 

-Brian

 

I concur.

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Saberjet,

 

This is actually a very interesting wing. Some may think it is a fake (as I have been told by one or two others), but I don't think that is actually the case. I have a wing like this and there is another one shown in one of the Pink and Greens book. I have seen similar ones in other collections as well and am convinced that they are period WWII vintage English-made wings.

 

The thing is, this wing seems to have been made with all sorts of different style pins, catches and hinges. In fact, of all the different examples I've looked at, I'm not sure any two wings have the same findings on the back! Here is mine, with an absolutely MASSIVE pin. The diagnostic aspect of this wing is that there are some die flaws that you see in the reverse of the wing (little creases in the metal), along the lower back edge, on either side by the shield.

 

 

 

P

 

 

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Also, sometimes I have noticed that the pot metal used to make English wings tends to get a little metal decay (something like the zinc rot of Nazi badges). Especially if some of the silver wash/plated finish starts to come off, it can leave pits and discolorations that look like casting flaws. That may have given this wing a "cast" look. Frankly, it is sometimes very hard to tell the difference, even with a loop and handling by hand.

But, this is really a "cool-beans" feathering pattern that I really like.

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I have a couple of pairs of this style in my collection - 1 pair with the short needle pin and the other with lugs. I believe they are probably die struck however, it's quite possible they are die cast but then die trimmed. In either case there appear to be shear marks along the edges.

 

Regards

Mike

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AAF_Collection

It would be good to see an attributed example, for instance as part of a grouping, or pictures of this type being worn (not that I'm questioning the authenticity of those shown).

 

The version with lugs has always intrigued me, as to wear one would require some pretty hefty holes in the uniform!.

 

Matt.

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  • 1 month later...

I just picked this up off of eBay for a pretty good price. Same as the ones above, but with the large pin style as opposed to the cotter pin lugs.

 

I believe that these are British made. No doubt to me that they are from the same dies as the ones shown above. Same wing with at least 3 different findings.

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the back, showing the characteristic die strike marks on the reverse. Also, a massive pin and hinge assembly. This thing wasn't going anywhere the owner didnt want it to go.

 

 

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