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Hi All, I collect SS stuff, almost anything SS related.. My pride and joy is my full SS Ernst Röhm dagger

Looking at my shelves, actually forgot I had this one! Alas the liners been ripped out, maybe bloodstained? chinstrap has a makers mark but there are so many wrinkles in the slightly shrunken leather it's illegible. odd batch no in the rear, looks like 00 then a smaller 85 (which I've neglected to take a photo of), and a very near-to-the-rim EF64 faintly stamped. hope the photos show the nice patina on this lid.

Now I am going to share some photos of original tropical breast eagles from my own collection. 1/ These two photos show the front and back of an original early cotton Heer tropical breast eagle. The early eagles details were more bold when compared to the flatter eagle detail of the later rayon/cotton based versions.. 2/ Another early tropical breast eagle still attached to a part of the tropical uniform. This eagle was stitched by hand to the tropical blouse and it is typical for late 1940 and early 1941. The reverse shows the original hand application and the top part of the key hole stitching for the breast pocket. 3/ A later tropical breast eagle as removed from a captured member of Gebergsjager Reg 756 in Tunisia. Note how the eagle was straight machine stitched to the tropical field blouse. 4/ Points of interest on an original to compare with the best fake available now. The reproduction has four wing feathers and an original has five, please compare the red highlighted areas on the fake and orginal photos. It is also interesting to note that the fakes chest feathers continue onto the upper part of the eagles wings and this is something you will never see on an original.

My sectioned M24, made by a model maker of only original parts are the fuze and both beads. Love it though...

Complete uniform for a Gefreiter of a LW Feld Division as he'd have been seen in Normandy or Italy in 1943/44.I've lost many of my folders after a major PC crash and lost nearly all the pictures of my collection,but I still have the ones I had taken on film many years ago.Sorry for the terrible quality.Everything is LW-issue and has been found in Italy,including the boots (1945-dated) which aren't LW-issue though!The smock and tunic come from the same area and the trousers are the Fligerhose normally used by aircrews but very pupular amongst ground troops as well.A pair of Her/WSS M43 Keilhose would have fit the bill perfectly just as well! The Gas mask,COMPLETE and named to a Flieger in Paris comes from northern France.The helmet carries its very own strap (just about every second german did that but finding helmets with original straps and netting is rare, to say the least!) and I've filled up the Rucksack as per the Reibert's Handbuch,including a second pair of Schnuhrschuhe. It's one of my older uniforms and it's complete down to the underwear....early-War LW-issue and LBA-stamped! Note how the rucksack has been made with left-overs!

Not your usual large calibre round, note the date on it have a guess to what it would have been used for?

Some of the 1/72 and 1/43 diecast models that are on the market today are more detailed and exquisite than ever. Just like this 1/72 Messerschmidt Bf110 from HobbyMaster

Good afternoon one and all, I've joined this site after joining its sister FB page!I've started collecting WW2 German uniforms and equipment nearly forty years ago and done it seriously for thirty.I stopped collecting a few years ago and put my collection in storage but I think I'll take it out soon! Ciao by now Manu

Here is my first educational thread designed to help fellow collectors determine what is an original tropical eagle and what is fake. There are many more copies that could be added, but most are very easy to spot and they are sold as copies. 1/ A very bad copy of a first pattern tropical breast eagle. The construction is bad and the head is deformed, but these sell as orignal. 2/ Another bad copy possibly from the 1970's 3/ A very good modern copy let down by the wings feathers. Be very careful with this type, as they catch many collectors off guard. 4/ This tropical breast eagle is from the late 1980's and early 90's it is a very good copy, but the head is deformed and the eagle backing and thread is synthetic. This one is also a dangerous copy. 5/ Points of interest to compare with the original eagles that I am going to post... 6/ This photo shows the front and back of another copy eagle that is like the one in photo number two.

Hi Here are a selection of the types of M24 and M39 delay tubes used. Bottom upwards . Allu BZ 39 ( this was withdrawn for M24 use. Allu BZ 39 for Nebel with relief holes on thread ( this stopped can exploding under pressure of the sp-nr 8 detonation) Lead Bz 24 delay tube for the M24. Lead Bz 39 delay tube for the M39 Nebel.

Auction from a small little auction house

A GREAT (to me,at least!) Vet from the African Campaign!I think that this is one of the VERY FEW tunics found with the wound dressing still in place,and I think I'm rather lucky, having three virtually untouched tunics in my collection with the wound dressing still in the pocket!Needless to say they haven't obviously been in collections before or messed with since the War!The tunic is in remarkable conditions and was found with only one shoulder strap but you cannot have everything,can you? Emoticon winkEvery single piece of the tunic is stamped with te same number. Enjoy Manu

Dont worry about this man Hetzers , he has a fetish of allowing Rabbits to run up and down his legs

Yes. Even your young mind has detected, through my thinly veiled words, that @Davejb is indeed a leather/rubber fetishist. Allegedly.

Benvenuto is absolutely correct!They ("we"...I was born in Canada but I've spent here the best part of the last 4 decades!) also frequently say "no problem",obviously taken from the English language, but if you want to be 100% correct you'd say "Nessun problema"! Cheers Manu

Here is my example. It was not taken off a dead soldier. A Canadian soldier on occupation duty after the war put it together from the multitude of prisoners that were coming off ships at the port where he was stationed. These are all KM based trade badges. I assume the shoulder boards are also KM? Cheers! Rob

Grazie Hetz! ;-)

You have one heck of a collection. I've not seen so many helmets. I just have one completely original LW M42, that I use to create displays with.

As my name might imply I started out with a fascination with the Luftwaffe and its fighter pilots. I met Ray Toliver, the author of many books on aviation personalities written by him and he jumpstarted my collection of autographs. From there I would purchase items as I found them, at a local swapmeet, on craigslist and from friends who knew I was a collector. A lot of US, German and Japanese military trinkets. Helmets, bayonets and daggers. Some badges and belt buckles. A few of the sticks that spit out those nasty little lead balls. I have hundreds of patches that I picked up over the years. A lot of autographs and some pretty cool paper items. I tend to not focus on one item and all of its many makers and the different ways they were made. Although it really helps to study the nuances, I just do not need them all in my display cabinet. I tend to stay away from SS items, not only is it a minefield, its hard enough explaining the crooked cross on the aircraft that adorn the walls of my war room. I am a member of a couple of the better known forums but tend to stay away from the cliques, and the good old boy network. So for I have found this forum to be very friendly and open. I am a humble Electrician from California, looking forward to the worldwide friendships amongst collectors that the modern world and the internet have made possible.

You will get there little buddy, get some books and study up on this stuff. There are too many crooks out there who would love to separate you from your hard earned money. Be patient and things will begin to appear, with knowledge and cash YOU begin to then snap them up! I started with fighter aces autographs, and then a co-worker sold me a Heer dagger. An early one from Tiger. I still remember it riding on my passenger seat with me staring at it the whole way home. Good luck!

I just made a political statement paralleling government disapproval of the aforementioned the bomb making book, which was legally published, and the same government's approval of the activities of certain foreign nationals. I apologized, as such discussions do not belong here.

Lenny, I might need help splitting the items ive posted into a more select grouping.

Read my post on Helmet liner preservation, generally helmets will endure a great deal of temperature changes, but a normally reasonably heated and airated home should not have any adverse effect on helmet shells whether behind glass or not, but liners can and do react to certain conditions within the home

Is your Leopard casing Canadian Marked?? Mine ( which came directly out of a Leo in AFG) has the British Broad arrow stamped into the base and a date of 1970. Honestly, this gave me pause for thought.

Next up is Panzershrek projectile. You can see the hollow-charge cup. German ww2.

Another veteran of the Italian Campaign.This camoed LW M35 has been picked up by a US Ranger Captain at Anzio.It's a Vet bring-back aquired Staside,and I have the letter and the picture of the Captain somewhere!In this case it's a Vet bring-back...brought back!It's been liberally coated with a mix of dirt and camo paints while the traces of a yellow paint are still to be seen in some spots,especially on the front brim.What I find very interesting is the stamp inside the liner;it reads "II Flak 24".II Flak 24 was a unit that fought in France and on the Western Front.At the beginning of the War it was deployed near the Westwall and it was one of the units to take part to the invasion of France.After that was sent to the Balkans and it was amongst he units of the 17 Armee to cross the Russian border in June 1941 where it fought.It surrendered near Wien in 1945. Why and how this helmet ended up in Italy and most likely in Africa as well (the traces of the yellow paint would lead to believe that!) we'll never know but it's a very nice helmet nonetheless! Hope you'll like it

ACC, yes you read it correctly ACC, ive spent several yrs collecting all that was left after some donut decided best place for my corps history was in the skip ( plz no jokes, I know them all, been there got the t shirt ) lmao, hers a few pics of my most coveted items to date as follows, 1915 cook book, I only know of a few to be left, ww2 hand written cook book, korea medal group to one of the first ACC on the ground and a ww2 MBE Mid medal group to an ACC Major

WW1 German Kugels that display very well.

It is a nice piece for sure @HetzersGonnaHetz

Very interesting @PaulR

Based upon what I read, he was a bit of a trouble maker with the establishment as well. I think that he would have been promoted a bit higher had it not been for his attitude toward some of the more mundane aspects of military life. He lived to be in the field and did not do well in garrison or staff settings.

Well it started out as a hobby and has now supported my family for nearly 6 years. Have to say I enjoy it as much these days as when it began so it is still my primary hobby and passion. Decorating A-2's in the many different methods used in the several Theaters of Operation. This isn't a sales pitch fellas and hope I'm not breaking any rules so the following photos and link are for viewing purposes only

Sadly I don't have a mouse attached to my iPhone

Your relative was quite the soldier, nice set!

Was it supplied by the Germans to the Ottomans, has it got something to do with Gallipoli?

Thanks for the advice @horridohutch

No worries mate...

You are absolutely right. Looks like the have been cut from the roll and applied without being folded first. They should look like this.

Czechoslovak Medals/Pins/Badges related to the former Military/Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSC)/ Czechoslovak Young Pioneers (There might also be some Chernobyl Liquidator Medals and Order of Red Banner of Labour)

I've got a pretty good knowledge of Chinooks, having photographed every single bit of them. However, the last one I did wasn't in great shape... I still wouldn't fly in a Mk2 to this day. Spent a week on the hills with his one, I was the main Police Photographer on it and documented the wreckage for the investigation... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27655435

I'm considering it as I know a guy who could match a repro collar and sew it... Of course would only be for my display and not moving on...

SD-2 'Butterfly' bomblets. Two types shown here. The early version with AZ41 fuzes,The charge has screw threads for the fuze. German ww2 The later version of the charges came with 'bayonet' threading. The right hand one with an AZ70B-2 anti-disturbance fuze. Also present here with the gaines on the fuzes.

My dear Kaiser said I've a chip on my shoulder, but it's much worse than that....

If your in the Hamburg area Germany, The Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster is well worth a visit http://www.daspanzermuseum.de/index.php?id=home

The MCN rank structure is as follows, with the posts required to make that rank. You can't move from Other Ranks to Warrant Officers unless you become a moderator. You can't become an Field Officer unless you buy a commission, you can't become a Staff Officer unless you become part of the Admin Team and you can't become Field Marshall just because you can't, that's me and only me. We are also introducing the Quartermaster rank, which is for MCN trusted dealers. More information on this to follow. The colour below is the colour that member's rank shows up in the membership list. OTHER RANKS Private 50 Lance Corporal 100 Corporal 250 Sergeant 500 Staff Sergeant QUARTERMASTER Trusted Dealer WARRANT OFFICERS (Moderators) Warrant Officer 3rd Class 250 Warrant Officer 2nd Class 500 Warrant Officer 1st Class Field Officers (Paid Commission) Second Lieutenant 250 Lieutenant 500 Captain 750 Major 1000 Lieutenant Colonel STAFF OFFICERS (Admin Team) Colonel 500 Brigadier 750 Major General 1000 Lieutenant General 2500 General CHIEF OF STAFF Field Marshall