ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by big_bad_bill

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.

BBB - You're talking about full-size buckram measurements on a miniature-size guide. But to answer your question - see the post before by MittMayo.

**UPDATE** I have just been given my Diamond Jubbly - so given that I very much doubt I'll be in No.2's between now and June - I shall be putting together a Full Size medal mounting guide in the very near future. Watch this space.

DC may I say great thread, quality & informative, however I think I will still get someone to do mine because I would probably end up sowing my fingers together. Good stuff though mate

Originally Posted by CAARPS

DC may I say great thread, quality & informative, however I think I will still get someone to do mine because I would probably end up sowing my fingers together. Good stuff though mate

Mate the way I see medal mounting is the old 'builder philosophy'

Allow me to explain...

A while ago, I decided I wanted to give my bathroom a completely new fit. Get rid of the old tiles, toilet, sink and bath out. New panels, mirrors, light fittings - you get the picture. Anyway - I was thinking to myself I'd probably be able to do it all myself, but I remember there were one or two bits I'd probably need to get someone in that knows what he's talking about.

So eventually, this maintenance blokey tips up at my house, looking like a dog's dinner that's been dragged through 4 or 5 hedges backwards and last used any type of hair trimming device back when Musical Youth were No.1 in the charts. He took a butchers at the various bits in the bathroom that needed his 'expertise'. Whilst he started talking in his yokel accent quoting bits and pieces at me, my attention started to wander and I found myself asking "Wait a second - I repair and maintain £30m flying machines for a living - why the fuck am I about to give Worzel fucking Gummige £450 of my hard earned beer tokens to do a job I could probably do in my sleep if I put my mind to it?"

And so it was - I used the internet for something other than porn and ARRSe - and looked up building / maintenance techniques - practised a little with some raw materials - and guess what? My neighbour who'd also been getting builders in to do his place up - ended up saying he'd wished he'd used me instead as I'd done a much better job.

A little long winded I know - but I suppose when it came to medal mounting - I thought to myself, "It cannot be that hard" - and after taking apart my own and looking up Army Dress Regs and other bits and pieces, I did it myself. Admittedly, the set I did back then compared to the sets I do now are worlds apart - but that's probably just my OCD kicking in - as you'll see in the Full Size Medal thread I'll be posting in a few days time.

But the other element that's introduced by doing your own is the 'personal touch'. Nobody will care about the appearance of your rack more than you. So you'll clean them up better than the fat wench at the tailors, and if they don't quite hang properly, you'll unstitch the dicky one and re-do it until it's pukka.

Start with your minis - you'll surprise yourself. And remember - if fat Helga at the Tailors Shop can do it - a skilled REME VM can almost certainly do a better job.

*Disclaimer* Any outlets called "The Tailors Shop" and any employees called "fat Helga" - my post is purely coincidental

You lost me after porn but good effort! Lucky for me my miniature came court mounted already and I'm in no way ever going to get anymore gongs so I can relax!
Should I be fortunate enough to get some sort of order later in life by then I won't care!

From Army Dress Regs:

13.016 Method of Court Mounting

b. Miniature Medals. Miniature medals may be worn court mounted or in an ordinary style. In both instances, medals are to be suspended from ribands of a width of 16mm. The length of the brooch should not normally exceed 14.7cm i.e. nine miniatures not overlapped but a larger number of miniatures may necessitate a longer brooch to avoid overlapping. If the number of miniatures can not be sensibly fitted to a longer brooch, then miniatures may be overlapped. At no time should more than two-thirds of any ribbon be covered by another; the overlap of each ribbon should be equal. The Medal is suspended from a ribbon so as to allow the centre of a round Medal to be cut in half by the backing, ie the nose of the impression of a sovereign’s head on a Medal should rest on the bottom edge of the backing. The bottom edges of miniatures should be aligned and not exceed 57mm from the top of the riband to the lowest point of the miniature. The lengths of each individual riband will consequently vary according to the height of each order badge, decoration and medal. The number of clasps or bars attached to the riband of any miniature may require that ribands across the whole brooch be of additional length.

I whole heartedly agree. As I am now awaiting medal number 9, mounting was costing me a fortune!

Do it yourself, slowly and methodically as Dave outlines and the results are better than most garrison tailors. Your fingers will be sore though as you will not be used to sewing – so do this somewhere you can leave them and then come back to them once you can move your fingers again!!!

There is also the satisfaction using the money saved for something useful and noble –like more beer!

Halloumikid

Just a quick question. I'm planning on following this guide to mount 3 full size medals, however one of them is NATO which has a ribbon a fair bit wider than uk ribbons. I assume the buckram is cut to the total width of all 3 ribbons (4 inch in total), but how does a 3 space brooch bar accomodate them?

Good question. The majority only have one, maybe two larger ribbons and with an overlap it's not a problem. But for those who have two or three and have five overall to mount, you basically need to cut the buckram to the overall width of all ribbons together. With this in mind, you need to close up the gaps as much as possible, and where you feed the ribbons through the brooch at the back, the corners are folded in as the picture below shows.

Some brooches have 'wriggle-room' holes at the end to allow for this. For those that don't, I suggest folding the ribbon at the section that enters the clasp, then placing a small stitch, ensuring the ribbon remains folded in the correct place when fastened (as it can be really tricky to try and adjust once the clasp is fitted).