Hey guys,

 

Here's another PAB, this time a bronze grade hollow tombak Wurster labeled by many as the "Chaos Grass" variant. It still retains most of its chocolate finish. It was the first of the bronze grades issued during the war.

 

Thanks,

James

A beautiful badge.....these Panzer Assault Badges have always been one of my favorite TR decorations. So much detail on the real ones, and love the way these bronze ones look. That is a NICE one!

Thanks Brian! Even among the originals, the earlier designs were so much more detailed than the late war PAB's. Not to mention the quality of the metals used starting with neusilber and tombak to eventually low quality zinc alloys, which are subject to zinc pest.

Here's an example of a later war zinc PAB produced by Rudolph Richter Schlag in comparison. Among other things, the eagle's head and the grass area are quite "simple." I'm only comparing the design differences, the awards all have the same historical value of course. : ) (this is not my badge, only a reference photo)

A basic question: are all hollow backed PABs "early war issue"?

Or were that made that way throughout the war?

Jim

Hello Jim,

 

Typically, but there are exceptions. One example would be GW that made a real nice late war hollow zinc PAB. Generally though, many early producers began with a hollow buntmetall version (Juncker with nickel-silver, Assmann with cupal, as a couple of exceptions), then moved to hollow zinc and eventually to solid zinc.

Nice award. Rich A. in Pa.

Thanks Rich!

This is my Silver Panzer badge made by Hermann Werstein.

Very nice MINTY badge you have there! It has been more "recently" attributed to E. Ferd. Wiedmann of Frankfurt. Is the hinge more of a wrap around, I can't tell by the photo.

Here are some detail photos of the hinge. I am not sure what you meant by "wrap around". I am still learning the about the details of TR items.

 

 

Thanks, good pics! Yes, this is what I was referring to as a "wrap-around" for lack of a better term. These are less common than the so-called "lily pad" hinge as shown below from a bronze example. Very nice badge!

 

Got it. Thanks for helping me learn the ins and outs of this stuff. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

Anytime! I'm no expert, but I'm more than happy to help when I can.