Damaged, Repair, Clean, Preserve Soviet Awards And Documents.

[EricFG]

It is a nice (enough) mirror-back Udarnik, enjoy it. And further enjoy the history of what seems to me to be a user-made repair. These are real, living things, don't forget or ignore that.

Damn good point. I appreciate it.

[Lapa]

Eric,

Don't touch the enamel, you have a 99.99% probability that the restorer won't be able to exactly match the color, and it will end up looking much worse (ie: repaired) than now (ie: naturally aged).
As to the solder, I am somewhat in-between. On the one hand, it would not hurt removing some of it, on the other hand, it is on the back, and that's about it.

Marc

[Sergei]

Eric,
If I owned the piece, I would have left the enamel as it is, the damage is not too extensive and to me it looks natural. But I would be very tempted to uncover the serial number, to me it's just too big a part of history of this tiny little thing:o . Mind you, my wife would have taken the badge to a repair shop straight away for a complete overhaul because, obviously, the thing is broken
As a keeper, you really should do what you feel comfortable with. If you ever have to part with the badge, I do not think the next owner will blame you for what you have or have not done. Just IMHO.
Sergei

[Laurent]

The solder is really ugly! I would remove it in order to see (perhaps) the S/N, but I wouldn't repair the enamel.

[Nack]

For sure, don't mess with the enamel. I'd leave the solder too--you can always change your mind later.

[jefflgarrison]

If your going to repair it, why not convert it to a 5-sided suspension. That way, you can show off the repair job on the reverse.

In other words, leave it as is. Put the $30 towards a new one.

[Nack]

If your going to repair it, why not convert it to a 5-sided suspension. That way, you can show off the repair job on the reverse.

In other words, leave it as is. Put the $30 towards a new one.

The man in the land of packzi hit it on the head I think.

[Riley1965]

Eric,
I would say leave it alone. If you do anything I would have some of the "blob" of solder removed but that's all. Any more and you may risk more damage to the badge.

:thumbsup :thumbsup Doc

[Christophe]

It is highly unlikely that the serial numbers for these Udarnik badges will be items that can be researched any time soon. Leave it alone. Should things change, you (or a future custodian) can always assault the solder-clod.

It is a nice (enough) mirror-back Udarnik, enjoy it. And further enjoy the history of what seems to me to be a user-made repair. These are real, living things, don't forget or ignore that.

I'm on with this remark.
And, in the future, it will still be time to act if needed...

Ch.

[EricFG]

Well, I voted for 'remove solder only' but there are so many good arguements for not even doing that that I'm still up in the air.
Perhaps it would be best to just sit on the a while (not literally), especially as in the past I've been against any restoration of period repair.