SD cap ,what is the correct color?

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Note alu. insignia. The Hoheitszeichen and the buttons on this thing are dated 1938, and it has a stamp on the peak. This cap, by the way, was sold to me as being earth grey or some other grey than field grey, but it is just field grey.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Here are cupal or whatever nice, shiny badges.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks to Mr. d'Alquen for the correspondence on such alu insignia. Mollo mentions this fact, too, in vol. III or VI, I think.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Whammond had a grey enlisted or NCO cap with the water proof lining, the runes, the stamp and even the RFSS tag, with a VA stamp of 1938 to boot.
I should have bought it, but was distracted. It was costly, but it was a rare cap.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The badge ding dongs will tell you that this cap likely has an alu. Overhoff "scull," which is also quite rare, not that such a thing means much to me.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The grey tunics for enlisted ranks, with the open collar and the SS cut are even more rare than the grey enlisted caps. I had one of these in the 1970s, as well, but did not keep it.

[d'alquen]

Certainly no offence taken at my end Ben. Here is the document I mentioned. It is an interesting one because it mentions the one cap I relentlessly searched for all the years I was collecting SS headgear: the earth brown cap. I think that it and the kraetzchen were the two caps I was unable to track down, let alone buy.
d'Alquen

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thank you. Very nice document. This kind of thing is exactly the stuff we like so well. We are grateful for your search, even if some of it was fruitless.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

In connection with the dunking of the aluminum in chemicals, i.e. Beizen....

Beizen von Aluminium

Beizen von Aluminium dient oft der Vorbehandlung für Klebeverbindungen, die mit eloxiertem oder walzblankem Aluminium schwierig sind. Der Beizprozess verwendet eine Mischung aus 27,5 Gew.-% konzentrierter Schwefelsäure und 7,5 Gew.-% Natriumdichromat (Na2Cr2O7 · 2H2O) sowie als Rest (65 Gew.-%) Wasser.

Ein etwas einfacherer und ungiftigerer Prozess zum Beizen von Aluminium für Klebeverbindungen ist die Verwendung von Natronlauge.

In der Galvanotechnik wird Aluminium auch oft mit einer Mischung aus Salpetersäure und Flusssäure gebeizt. Die Behandlung mit Flusssäure, die weitestgehend in Deutschland verboten wurde, dient der Herauslösung des Siliciums, das bei der Herstellung von Aluminium ins Teil gearbeitet wird und sich nicht galvanisch beschichten lässt. Die Beizzeiten betragen einige Sekunden bis wenige Minuten.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Apropos Mr. d'Alquen's documents from March 1936 and his own search for the things we see in images from that spring so long ago, the sum which remains today to be found and examined is quite small.