Tiger 1 tracks

**WillC** · 01-17-2014, 02:40 AM

I already got a M42 helmet and a 10.5 cm kreigsmarine container. I got a us army visor, and my great grandads uniform( he was an MP in Okinawa and Guanacandal.) Also, im only 13.

Ill post some pictures of these in a bit.

**WillC** · 01-17-2014, 05:19 AM

Here they are.

I dont have possession of the Mp uniform yet or the Kar98k bayonet yet. They are currently with my grandma until my parents let me bring down the bayonet and the Uniform is in her will to me.

**Rob L** · 01-17-2014, 08:10 AM

Wow great stuff. I have one of these carry cylinders as I also collect rounds, but it has been chopped short post war and used for engine parts. Great to see someone so young collecting. One thing I have learned to do over the years and it has seriously saved me a heap of money is no matter if it's on ebay or even a known dealer always run the item and if it has it marker marks on google images. Google images will straight away lead to a site like this and show details of real or fake and you'll soon pick them apart, I've certainly found this the case with badges. Even run stuff that's in a dealer, on my christmas break I've seen a hell of allot of fakes even on dealer sites. When you see something like 20 cap eagles and 30 skull badges on one site (as an example) always ask yourself why they have so many and treat everything suspicious because fake sells well in amongst real. And on that same site with the cap badges why would Adolf Garland have owned 1/2 a dozen knights crosses and parts that are for sale by the one dealer.... One of his hats I seen picked apart on a site like this and it was said to be the hat of "Karl Doenitz", being an old copy. =)

**ford369** · 01-17-2014, 08:30 AM

by WillC

Thanks for the info and the info about buying these.

Im going on a trip to Normnady in June and I hope that I can find alot of ww2 german stuff there.

if you are planning on buying in Normandy be careful there is a lot of repro stuff over there and it is a very expensive place to buy

**WillC** · 01-17-2014, 03:34 PM

The things that I am safe about buying there are Panzer track links. Helmets ill need to be really careful.

**ford369** · 01-17-2014, 03:57 PM

probably be safe with the track links but definitely expensive,there are plenty of dealers in Normandy so if you are willing to pay you will certainly be spoilt for choice

**Rob L** · 01-21-2014, 07:46 AM

Oh yes I know all too well about helmets having been taken more than a few times to learn. I have been warned by one of the sellers in Latvia that even track links are faked. Mud is certainly a good sign though customs would have a problem taking them home. Wear is very important along with rust pits as to real or recast off a worn one. You'll notice that the Tiger 1 wears on the inside of the track and when they are really worn down like my top one pictured they do leave a sharpe edge in front of the cleats. The horns on the back wear over all on the late tigers with the steel wheels. I have never handled other types to be able to tell. I do think they are a safer bet than most other types of collectables when you have them in hand.

**danno81** · 01-22-2014, 08:29 PM

Your comment about track links being faked peaked my curiosity - so far I have been fortunate enough to get the real deal, mostly from the folks you all have listed here as being great to deal with. I guess wherever there is money involved - there will be repros made to make a buck. I would imagine it would be an extensive operation for casting such items and milling them. Did your sellers elaborate on the types being reproduced by chance or about the operation making them? Here is a book I recently found and ordered about the Panzers and the track links on Amazon: Panzerketten: Schwarzmann Peter: 9783943883008: Amazon.com: Books

And here is a link to a youtube group making Tiger I Tanks… full size… and running. I think this was covered in another thread a bit earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQmnWwkT1x0

You mentioned the wear on the Tiger I track and the wear, my King Tiger link set has done the same… worn down and leaving a sharp edge on the front of the cleats… on can only imagine the weight of those beasts…

by Rob L

Oh yes I know all too well about helmets having been taken more than a few times to learn. I have been warned by one of the sellers in Latvia that even track links are faked. Mud is certainly a good sign though customs would have a problem taking them home. Wear is very important along with rust pits as to real or recast off a worn one. You'll notice that the Tiger 1 wears on the inside of the track and when they are really worn down like my top one pictured they do leave a sharpe edge in front of the cleats. The horns on the back wear over all on the late tigers with the steel wheels. I have never handled other types to be able to tell. I do think they are a safer bet than most other types of collectables when you have them in hand.

**steverobertsbbc** · 01-23-2014, 10:32 AM

Thanks for the link to that book, Danno81 - I've been waiting for someone to write something like that for years! I've ordered it even though I don't speak a word of German. Hopefully there will be an English translation in the future.

On the subject of faked links, I think it's important to buy from somebody you trust. I've seen enough of my seller's digs and photos of his backyard to know that he really is digging this stuff out of the ground. Although he cleans them up, you can always find dirt and stuff inside the holes where the pins go etc. When I bought my Tiger I link from him, he took a lot of photos for me and I could specify which exact link I wanted. He also indulged me in a swap of a PzIII Winterketten which was rather bent through use whilst I preferred a straighter item. You pay higher prices, but you get a good service and backup, plus he can tell you exactly where it was found and what was found with it.

Don't be fooled by people telling you that German track links were non-magnetic and that magnetic ones are fakes. Certainly a lot of earlier tracks were non-magnetic, but as the war progressed material shortages put a stop to this. It looks like this is touched on in the book - look at the last page of the preview on Amazon.

**danno81** · 01-23-2014, 04:18 PM

The book should be a good tool for us who like these things. I hope as you say they will translate it later to English, but the photos will speak volumes and most of us can work our way through translations now especially with the internet. Like you, I have ordered the tracks I have from folks who have a good record. I am happy with the sets I have from the Panzer 1 through King Tiger. I found it interesting about these being faked now, as I mentioned it would take an enormous casting operation to produce, mill, drill, and make the larger ones. I have stuck mostly with items that have not been faked for my collection, on items such as the Norden Bombsight, optics, and difficult things to reproduce such as these track links. the smaller items such as medals etc., I have bought from only 2 dealers I know and trust. Maybe someone can coax the diggers to put something up on these links being copied, I'd be interested to know how they are doing it and on the size of that operation. Anything can be produced, but it isn't cheap to do so. That Tiger I copy which is operational in Russia I can only imagine the expense for the parts to include the tracks. The old links we see on eBay would be a steal at the cost of some of the items, below what it would take to make them. For now, hopefully that will remain the case…