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S Mine question
- Thread starter Eodtek
- Start date
That is wax paper and it was covering the charge below. First time I have ever seen it also.
Thanks Hangarman.
It's hard to tell if it's paint or tape residue. It has a raised texture but it isn't tacky so I have no idea.
Based on what I have read and what my testing shows, the charge in the center does appear to be Nipolit. I guess it would help if I could get a chemical composition of Nipolit to check it by.
I'm also looking at a way to imprint and re-cast the central charge in an inert material.
The S-mine explosive content was either a wax filling or it could be filled with granuals depending on year etc. The section containing the explosive on some mines had spaces s similar to a normal charge. I would take a very very small piece from your what looks like a charge and check to see if its bitchimum but i don't think so, it looks as if your charge has dried out and shrunk into 3 chuncks as it looks if there would be a space on the outside, if the charge touched the centre flash tube. It would unlikely be Nipolit as this stuff i belive can be machined to shape but not sure, if it can be then it would have to be very tough (for machining) otherwise it would crumble to bits but you never know what they did during the war. Some S-mine fillings when dismantled, the charge came out as a block that could be removed as one piece. I belive that these late war mines had a white band around them, maybe its was an early batch where they just put a white stripe on to start and though it would be better to put it all around to be better visualy, As for casting the sections to copy i would use a silicone moulding material and use coloured plaster of paris. Nice to see the wax paper and a very nice condition mine.
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sudelmuk
HONORED MEMBER RIP
morning Chris, quite an interesting thread this one, always something new turnes up.
never seen that version before; are you sure that it is not a post-war issue?
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Here is what I am able to put together so far.
The charge in this mine was originally 1 piece designed to fit over the central tube and around the 3 outer tubes. Over time it appears that it has broken into 3 peices but 2 of the pieces fit neatly back together. The material chemically tests positive for nitrates which can put it in the catagory of TNT, Nipolit or any number of other explosives.
The charge in this mine was originally 1 piece designed to fit over the central tube and around the 3 outer tubes. Over time it appears that it has broken into 3 peices but 2 of the pieces fit neatly back together. The material chemically tests positive for nitrates which can put it in the catagory of TNT, Nipolit or any number of other explosives.
S mine 35
EODtek,
I have the picture from the TM 5-223C, German Mine Warfare Equipment.
The TM was published in 1952.
In the scope and purpose it says that this manual covers mine warfare equipment used by the German Army in World War II.
All the other items in the book are for sure used in World War II.
An other strange thing is that yours is not mentioned in the book, will try to find out more in a couple of days.
Regards,
Chris
EODtek,
I have the picture from the TM 5-223C, German Mine Warfare Equipment.
The TM was published in 1952.
In the scope and purpose it says that this manual covers mine warfare equipment used by the German Army in World War II.
All the other items in the book are for sure used in World War II.
An other strange thing is that yours is not mentioned in the book, will try to find out more in a couple of days.
Regards,
Chris
I have this manual as well, some pictures are well drawn but some don't represent the original items to scale and look a a bit out to the real item ie the s-mine 44 shrapnel page 127. apart from that its a very good manual and covers items that were used during the war but discovered just after and some that were never used ie the bounding gas mine on page 145-146 etc. I have never seen this other type of smoke training S-mine to the normal type seen. May be its much closer to appearance to the exploding type that it needs to be pointed out to Engineers. Another S-Mine to collect:tinysmile_cry_t4:.
If you try and get hold of the WW2 training film 'Enemy mines in Tunisia' 1943, you will see displayed on a table or boxes a stripped down S-mine of the tinned sealed type that has none of the 3 shear screw in the base of the outer pot. You will see the explosive content as a cast lump similar to your cast explosive.