hello collectorfriends,
on my daggerhunt this weekend i find this 4 minis.
and i must buy this little baby´s they look to sweet.
the seller make me a good price for all 4, and now i am interessted what did i buy becouse its not my drainage area.
expert opinions welcome are these all repro dagger?
salute from germany einhesse

army e.&f. hörster solingen marker

rad alcoso solingen marker

rad arbeit adelt

kriegsmarine + hirschfänger

hirschfänger etch on the blade

hirschfänger swastika removed with a hammer ?

KM alcoso marker

KM eagle

opinions welcome

The detail sure looks good on these. I was just looking around and found your topic. I think the Army is real, but honestly, I'm not an expert on these. Sure wish someone would take a look at these and comment. John

Hi. I've just stumbled across these and, if they're not steel blades, I'm almost certain that they are Rex Reddick pieces that came in parts and you had to assemble and paint them yourself. I bought all the models, made them up and eventually swapped them for a nice DRK Officer's dagger round about 1985. I remember that the chained SS was a real bugger to do, but looked great when finished.

quote:

Originally posted by Terry Pullen:
Hi. I've just stumbled across these and, if they're not steel blades, I'm almost certain that they are Rex Reddick pieces that came in parts and you had to assemble and paint them yourself. I bought all the models, made them up and eventually swapped them for a nice DRK Officer's dagger round about 1985. I remember that the chained SS was a real bugger to do, but looked great when finished.

Terry, these appear to NOT be Rex's pieces. I may be wrong but these appear to have real grips and real scabbards and don't, to my eye only now, appear to be Reddick's. Just look at the leather washer under the guard on the KM for example.
Lloyd

You may be right Lloyd. Einhesse gave no indication of the size so if they're longer than 6" I'm probably talking out of my hat!

These mini daggergs are definitely not Rex Reddick pieces. Only one of his kits had a blade motto and that was the Hitler Youth knife. None of his kits had maker marks. My name is Terry Condo and I made many of these kits for sale in the 80's. All of my daggers had blackened recesses to highlight details as well as air brushed finishes when apropriate (such as SS, SA and chained SS). Bill DeNoia was actually the maker of these kits.

Welcome to the forum karma.
And thanks for the "inside" scoop on these.
How much did a set cost you to make? And what did you wholesale out at?
-wagner-

I bought the dagger kits for about $10. I did not wholesale the finished dagger out but sold a number of these daggers to military show dealers who sold them for what the market would bear. When I made them, I used different grades of files, sand paper and steel wool. I had a security clearance at that time having put in 34 years with the Federal Government. I remembr in up-dating my security clearance with the FBI, I had to have my fingerprints taken again. The FBI was very curious as to why I had no fingerprints. I had to explain my use of files, sandpaper, and steel wool in my making miniature daggers.

KARMA ....Great Information & also "Welcome Aboard" @ GDC. Since you've been at the Dagger Business since the 80's ... you have a Lot to share with us. For instance, when making the Repro's you had to study to Real Daggers for sake of authenticity.

1) Do you have any 'File Photos' of the various Mini's that you made?
2) Did Reddick supply you with Photos of, or examples of, the real Items to work from?
3) Do you have any additional old mini's that you may have kept? (I, for one, would be interested in acquiring some - for sake of comparisons.

Love the story of you haveing 'No Fingerprints!' Yes, you definitely would drive the FBI crazy!!
Dave ....dblmed

To dblmed: In reference to your inquiry of any file photos of mini daggers I have in my collection, please reference page 2 of this forum subject moderated by Andy Mraz and look for 3 June and 8 June of '04 (Karma)for many photos of mini daggers and guns in my collection (as well as original daggers/guns). Mini daggers shown are in 1/3 scale (I made) and other mini daggers are in 3/4 and 1/2 scale I collected over the years.
Regarding your second question, Reddick provided me with no photos to work from. Lastly, I have about 50+ mini german daggers in my collection I don't make them any longer and I have no plans to sell any from my collection at the present time.

Karma,

Many thanks for your solid information on the miniatures that you manufactured. Wonderful attention to detail and fine execution. Your photographs help to show the quality of execution that can be achieved with skill and patience.

This is precisely why sorting out the period miniatures from postwar miniatures is so difficult. Skilled craftsmen do still exist that can make these items today.

I owned a similarly marked Army in the early 80's. I always thought it to be real.