I just got my hand picked 1917 tripod from OOW, man what a beauty!! Dated 1941 on the brass plate, the leather belt is in great shape, little oily tho. A few scrathes on the paint, nothing in my opinion looks as cool as a water cooled MG on a 1917a1 tripod. Now, do i remove all the paint from the brass and polish it or do I leave it all alone? The only brass thats not painted is the circular scale on teh base. NO PRESSURE Lou, but there is an empty tripod calling out for its gun.