ARmy Rumour SErvice

I'm glad to see the MODs have made this a sticky. A great guide.

Dave, you need to edit your first post. You use the word 'properly' when they're clearly not...how much tape and glue (more than parcel force)?

I only use a small amount of wonder-web for the material onto buckram, thereafter, they are stitched by machine, only...no tape or glue...as per the Household Div 'stitches.'

However, it will Definately save ARRSErs money by not paying the over priced companies.

Sorry Mr Blobmeister - 'properly' relates to the lay of the ribbon and materials used i.e. the correct brooch, buckram (which is actually called pelmet hessian - the real buckram is white and mainly used for curtains).

The tape is purely for those people who don't have access to heavy duty sewing machines (probably 99% of ARRSErs) to enable them to hold the ribbons together whilst hand stitching, emphasising the whole DIY element of mounting your medals. I've dismantled many sets of miniatures and full-size medals from many professional tailors now - and one tailor in particular (which I won't mention on here) use virtually no stitching at all (except to hold the brooch at the ends). Each ribbon was literally covered in tape - ruining every single ribbon. In this guide I have tried to minimise that to small patches and thin strips, purely to aid sewing and securing of ribbons, which can easily be removed with a sharp edge if need be.

But point taken - and I have edited Posts #1 and #3 to reflect this.

Thanks Dave. Just done mine and they come out none too shabby.

DC, although you give the size of the buckram, what height should the base of the medal be from the top? Giving it a go this break.

Originally Posted by Sloppy Link

DC, although you give the size of the buckram, what height should the base of the medal be from the top? Giving it a go this break.

9cm (3.5") for large.

4.5cm (1.7") minature

Actually Mr Blob - you'll find that your second figure is the length of the actual buckram for the minis (and not the overall length).

Sloppy - in a nutshell, your buckram should be 71mm in height for full size and 45mm for miniature.

The bottom edge of the buckram should align with the centre of your medals as they hang.

Now for the confusing bit...

Army Dress Regs state that very same thing in the paragraph relating to court mounting. But it goes on to say that when mounted, all the bottom edges should be aligned. When you consider that the Silver, Gold and Diamond Jubilee medals are all smaller than your campaign medals - this is basically a contradiction. Because if they are all mounted so that exactly half the medal is exposed (when viewed from behind), then the bottoms of each will not align if you have any of the Jubilees.

Best thing is to stick with the 'half a medal' method. In which case for a campaign medal (35mm dia) your overall length will be as Mr Blob says - 71mm + 17.5mm (approx 9cm)

Miniatures (18mm dia) your overall length will be 45mm + 9mm - 54mm total. Be aware though that some miniatures are slightly different in size (I seem to recall a rogue batch of NATO minis being a ridiculously small size compared to the rest). Stick to half a medal exposed though, and you'll be fine. Oh, and good luck.

DC, I'm not trying to undermine your excellent guide but can you clarify as the regulations say 69.85 mm. It does goes on to add about increasing the size for larger medals, so, is that why you add on the extra mil? Just asking because I've already cut my buckram and want to know if I need to re-do.