Hi All, Jay from Dugup here.
First of all I am so surprised to read about us in the forum without any of you actually contacting us first.
Well that's not entirely fair as SdKfz251 gave me the heads up. I know most of your personally and see you quite often, yet you say nothing!
You all have a very good point with regards to making stuff as a copy etc, however the unscrupulous dealer will fill the mark in and paint over it or acid it out or over stamp etc so after a lot of thought we decided to change the item so that it can be deduced as a fake and not easily put right. If they can put it right then they would have the technology to make an item from scratch. For example the Mills grenades have no recess hole inside where there striker comes in so the inner has to have the top cut off to fit. The base plug thread only fits our own base plugs which are marked with our own mark anyway.
The Japanese fuze has a 1990's date and some non-descrim markings that could say "Chicken Fried Rice" for all I know
The Incendiary Bomb is made from aluminum and weighs about 3 times that of a magnesium one.
We are sometimes asked by serious collectors to make that impossible to find bit for their Bomb or grenade- Paul you got us to make some short levers for the US Pineapple Grenades you had, yet you did not ask us to stamp them as copies?
Now that we have found the BOCN and think it is a great site with sensible members, I will write a feature on all of our reproductions on the fake pages and announce any new comers onto the market.
Marcus asks why we do not stick to just parts- well you of all people Marcus should know how impossible it is to post any form of ordinance abroad. The items we make are realistic replicas (with subtle differences) that have never had or even been near any form of explosive plus we only ever make them as cutaways as not to ruin the original market. A lot of Countries are only allowed cutaways, I could never destroy an original that would be sacrilege. A lot of relic ones get cross sectioned as that is all they are good for really, but they once contained explosives and no matter what you clean it out with-Yes even acetone, the sniffer machine, dogs etc will detect it and the item destroyed.
You guys don't always think about how lucky you are to be allowed what we are here in the UK-No doubt the do gooders will try and change that again soon but until then let us enjoy.
Andy- If any of your contacts in China that made the fake go-locks for you, can make any of our stuff cheaper, please put them in touch with us and we can pass the saving onto the customer. Maybe you should mark the next batch you make as repro as they don't hold an edge and have a Broadband arrow on them and also are in an original Thatchreed scabbard. I would think in a few years time if they are not marked repro they will appear as original!
However I have taken on board all of your concerns and I am now sure I will be hearing more from you and others- Please keep it sensible as I really don't have the time to get into silly banter with anyone. I will ensure that every one of our items also has an R stamped on them somewhere. I am currently in Vietnam digging and diving until the end of this month so will deal with this on my return.
Jay Howe
www.dugup.co.uk
sales@dugup.co.uk