JDK Posted June 12, 2008 Share #1 Posted June 12, 2008 I bought these recently. When I got them, they looked nothing like the pictures that I had seen. I'm sure their the same wings. What throws me is the yellowish color to the actual wing area. I have seen this on German badges where the wash on the badge turns a yellowish color. I have little experience with Firmin wings. I wanted to run these pics past you guys to see what you think. The last picture best shows the yellowing I mentioned. Thanks in advance J.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG Posted June 12, 2008 Share #2 Posted June 12, 2008 It looks like the chromium has started to peel. They still look GREAT to me......but I don't know as much as some of the others. Nice wings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted June 12, 2008 Share #3 Posted June 12, 2008 Nice original wings! Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted June 13, 2008 Share #4 Posted June 13, 2008 They look fine to me, too. Yellowing is likely of the finish applied as the are non-Sterling. Lovely wing badge. Bobgee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert60446 Posted June 13, 2008 Share #5 Posted June 13, 2008 HI J.D. These wings were made of bronze and later on silver finish was applied on them. Nothing to worry about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted June 13, 2008 Thanks alot! You guys are GREAT! These are my first Firmin Wings. I have never seen the yellowing before. Guess I'll put them in the display case J.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted June 13, 2008 Share #7 Posted June 13, 2008 Hello, I think I would wait until Gary Cain weighs in, he seems to be our resident Firmin expert, but I do have a couple of concerns. Be back of the wing looks awful beat up, and I am not sure why that would be the case. There seems to be divots and gouges that I dont typcially see on Firmin wings. There was some nice wings posted on a WAF thread here (http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164087&highlight=firmin) that shows some of his very nice wings. As for the yellow color, that can be due to 2 things. First, many of these wings were coated with a lacquer and that frequently changes color from a clear to a yellowish color. On the other hand, sometimes when wings are aged artificially with chemicals, they tend to turn the metal a funny color depending on the metals in the mix. My gut says this is likely a good wing, but a couple of alarm bells to ring out looking at them. The thing to do, IMHO, is to search around for FIRMIN wings (ie here http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...wings&st=0) and check them out compared to your wings. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert60446 Posted June 13, 2008 Share #8 Posted June 13, 2008 Those English made wings are killing me...J.D. can you tell if rivets holding shiled on the reverse side are real? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share #9 Posted June 13, 2008 Thanks for the info Patrick. I had a couple other guys look at them this morning that have more experience with these wings. They both feel that they are good. Just have some wear apparently. Always open to more opinions though Robert, Honestly, I have been trying to figure this out. They sure look real, but it's very hard to say for certain. It's tough to get the right angle to see. I'll be playing around with them this weekend, really looking them over. Maybe I can get a answer on this. J.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert60446 Posted June 13, 2008 Share #10 Posted June 13, 2008 Hi J.D. Try to take a picture of the bullet from the side to see if bullet is separate piece or not. If you will see bullet metal "blending" in to the rest of badge then it is casting… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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