EXTREMELY Rare Whiskey Hip Flask Restoration - RAF World War II

EXTREMELY Rare Whiskey Hip Flask Restoration - RAF World War II

Restoration of a rare whiskey hip flask from World War 2 - The hip flask has 2 bullet holes and is probably from the World War 2 and belonged to a soldier from RAF Royal Air Force. The Flask was found near the battlefields of Reims in France by a metal detector guy who is subscribed to my channel.

About the whiskey hip flask
I got this rare whiskey hip flask from a French subscriber who do metal detecting around all the old battlefields from World War 1 and 2 in France, Belgium and Holland. Its most likely from World War 2 considering the location where it was found near Reims and all the other relics it was found together with like ammunition, coins and kitchen equipment with US and British stamps.

There was a very cool RAF badge (The British Royal Air Force) attached to the whiskey hip and the flask has a simple but yet cool eagle (I think) and the words “Per Ardua Surgo” which means Through difficulties I arise. There were also 2 bullet holes on both sides.

The hip flask was in very poor condition when I started the restoration. And there were still a lot of dents, marks and signs of use when I was finished with the repair. The brand name was still readable “Hutton. Sheffield – 0322 – 2” in the bottom.
It is made of pewter and the RAF Royal Air Force badge was made of brass both known to last thousands of years buried.

The restoration process
I started the restoration process by removing the thick layer of dirt, dust and corrosion with a semi soft vinyl brush. Then I removed the RAF Badge gently using heat.
I had a little difficulty removing the screw cap but finally after many hours of work I managed to carefully get it off.

I washed the flask in regular water with alcohol and carefully straightened out a few dents with a special tool I’ve made to do this repair.
I cleaned and straightened out the bullet holes and then I casted new pewter into the bullet holes to make the whiskey hip flask whole and usable again.

After the casting process I grinded and removed the excess material but unfortunately the old pewter was rotten and collapsed into an even bigger hole.
So I was forced to do a new repair and cast pewter into an even bigger hole now. This repair did go very well though, so after a few hours of grinding the flask was whole.

I gave the flask a quick polish (not too much) I wanted to keep the patina from WWII so therefore I left a lot of dents, marks and scratches. I also cleaned the inside with 2000 miniature metal balls. I attached the RAF - The British Royal Air Force badge and filled it with whiskey.
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