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need help with wings


donaldnol
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I have this pilot wings that i purchase, it's been dipped in lacquer or varnish, what could be used to take it off without harming the original finish, i tried soaking it over night with acetone, lacquer thinner, and alcohol with no affects. maybe nail polish remover? i really not sure of. anyone has an idea please let me know . thanks

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I polish silver wings all the time just line a pot with aluminum foil, cover with water & 1-2 tbls spoons baking powder, boil for 3-5 minutes, It will soften & remove the old lacquer finish/oxidation then clean with silver polish & a jewelers cloth. There is some debate as whether to polish wings because the patina shows the age but I do this for all my common wings. 

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i have over 280 wings there were only three that was lacquered and some of my wings did need cleaning because of grunge, but i coulden or would never polish them it would ruin the antique look and value. thanks

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I take the other side of this equation.  Its your collection, you can polish them all you want.  Short of a steel wire buffing wheel and some industrial Brasso-type chemicals, you really won't damage the value of a wing by polishing or cleaning them up.  Some people like them salty (I know I do) and untouched, some like them neat and clean, and a few like them as shiny as possible--enough bling to make a Rap Star or Drag Queen happy.  The really rare stuff won't lose value and the common stuff is already hard to sell.

 

Wings are NOT like coins, where the circulation, patina and condition is all important.

 

But on a "helpful" side, you may want to try one of those kid's type pencil eraser.  Lightly rub the wing and try to pick up the lacquer.  It doesn't always work, but sometimes  you can kind of peel off the layer without introducing a mirror finish on the wing.

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Thats a funny way of putting it drag queen or pop star and maybe a biker gang i like that, here is a wing i  just got in yesterday my first pre war pilot snow flake wings, at one time what i think that the owner had scrapped off the highlights on the front with a knife and then sometimes later in life someone had polished it looks terrible, but the back is really okay, i may tone the front a little w/ sulfur don't know yet if i will. have some pics of it.

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Just now, donaldnol said:

Thats a funny way of putting it drag queen or pop star and maybe a biker gang i like that, here is a wing i  just got in yesterday my first pre war pilot snow flake wings, at one time what i think that the owner had scrapped off the highlights on the front with a knife and then sometimes later in life someone had polished it looks terrible, but the back is really okay, i may tone the front a little w/ sulfur don't know yet if i will. have some pics of it.

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i cant get the camera to show how it really looks

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1 hour ago, manayunkman said:

A pre War clutch back?

yes pre W.W.11 they had'em even i didn't believe it but they did have them

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24 minutes ago, donaldnol said:

yes pre W.W.11 they had'em even i didn't believe it but they did have them


Never seen it before.

 

A suggestion that may help is to put the wings on a white background and take the picture outside in the shade but make sure the sun is at your back because it will affect shading. 

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9 minutes ago, manayunkman said:


Never seen it before.

 

A suggestion that may help is to put the wings on a white background and take the picture outside in the shade but make sure the sun is at your back because it will affect shading. 

yes have done this before but it's okay, sometimes cameras never do what u want

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This pattern was probably used for a very long time.  No way to actually know when the PARTICULAR wing was made.  AMCRAFT started in the 20's and was active through until just around the KW.  These wings show up in a silver pot metal and sterling silver.  I suspect that the pot metal version were intended to be cheaply made and worn for day to day activities.  The STERLING ones are a bit harder to find, but still nice.

 

Clutch backs were used pre war, so that isn't a problem, but frankly they were also used during the war....   So, in your collection, you can put them into the pre-war ricker mount if you want and still be 100% correct.

 

Sweet wing.

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39 minutes ago, pfrost said:

This pattern was probably used for a very long time.  No way to actually know when the PARTICULAR wing was made.  AMCRAFT started in the 20's and was active through until just around the KW.  These wings show up in a silver pot metal and sterling silver.  I suspect that the pot metal version were intended to be cheaply made and worn for day to day activities.  The STERLING ones are a bit harder to find, but still nice.

 

Clutch backs were used pre war, so that isn't a problem, but frankly they were also used during the war....   So, in your collection, you can put them into the pre-war ricker mount if you want and still be 100% correct.

 

Sweet wing.

thanks i appreciated what u said;

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