German Helmet Experts

C

CanukMauser

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Location
Edmonton Alberta
Sort of off topic but I was gifted with a German helmet for helping move some old furniture.

It's the real deal but someone painted over the decals long ago but you can see the old outline. The liner is all still there as well and has a 1943 date stamped on it.

If anyone is interested in looking at it I can get some pictures.
 
Probably a Norvegian helmet, rebuilt by them using surrendered Nazi helmets after the War. Importer painted the Norvegians decals over to past them off as original Nazi ones. With carefull light application of a paint remover, it is possible to removed the painted over area and save the Norvegian decals under the paint.
 
The paint over the decals is a different colour, the whole helmet is a dark green with a close but more brown splash over the decals, it definatly had 2 decals at one time.

Even the interior of the helmet is a green colour, lighter and mucher thinner then the outside though.

Looking online at some norwegian helmets the colour looks rather similar, the decal shape is correct but the paint gets rather thick in places and it's tough to tell if it had a crown on the top or not.
 
There are tons of original German helmets here in Canada and much more stateside. However there are also lots of Norwegian and Spanish even repros too.
Original will have a factory code/serial # inside shell at rear usually 4 digets and at side a size in metric roughly 56-68. decals sound like they are gone, Originals will not just scrape off with your finger nail! One kid at a show last year showed me a Heer helmet to confirm if it was original, I asked if I could do decal test with finger nail he said "No".afraid of loosing some decal. Also code was unreadable, it was a rebuilt original or a repro,. There is often stamps from factory on leather /5 fingers of liner. Look for proper rivets ,paint texture etc. Good luck.
 
Decals on most combat helmets were painted over due to the fact that at nite they could reflect light.Sometime during the war they stopped issuing combat helmets with decals.
 
You <may> be able to expose the original decals to see what they were if you work very, very carefully. No harm in trying at this point mind you.
 
Different colour paint on Decal fits in with the Norvegian Import ones I have seen. On the photo you can see traces of the different colour paint that was removed to uncover the Norvegian decal. At one time you could find them in every Surplus Store in Montreal. In the USA, the Norvegian ones are harder to find than the Nazi ones.



norgehelmet.jpg
 
JP said:
Different colour paint on Decal fits in with the Norvegian Import ones I have seen. On the photo you can see traces of the different colour paint that was removed to uncover the Norvegian decal. At one time you could find them in every Surplus Store in Montreal. In the USA, the Norvegian ones are harder to find than the Nazi ones.



norgehelmet.jpg
Click to expand...

marstar had them on sale for about $99 or so in the late 1980's and they crop up occasionally at the gun shows for around $225 to $300 although I haven't seen one for some time!! an intersting piece of history. now you need a norwegian k-98 and 1911 to go with the helmet.
 
There are thoughts on making it the correct colour if enough experts chime in that the repaint has ruined any value.

I was on a few sites and saw some Norwegian helmets in a very similar green the flash makes it look glosser then it is.

But at worst case scenario it was free.
 
That's definitely not an original German color and the location of the decals is consistent with Norwegian reissued helmets. Like has been mentioned already, these helmets are becoming collectable in their own right because most have been repainted for use by reenactors or beginner collectors. It is an original German M40 helmet shell so it does have some value but now you just need to decide what you want to do with it. If you want to part with it send me a PM as I have a buddy here in Edmonton who would be interested.
 
Paint is post war, could be a good project for acetone. I have done several myself. Any shots of the inside? What is the maker and batch number? If you need advice send me a PM.

Here is an M40 Luftwaffe helmet I bought, it had the ugly ass paint on the outside, and I started to strip her, and sure enough it has all original Luftwaffe paint underneath.
NewHelmetProject2.jpg

NewHelmetProject4.jpg

NewHelmetProject5.jpg

NewHelmetProject7.jpg
 
The Norwegians also postwar dyed many of the original German liners a reddish clour. Nice restoration pieces.
 
There are some shots of the inside on the link, only numbers I can see are as follows

On the LHS NS64
On the rear 8043

From where the liner stap rubs it had worn away some of the green paint showing either Field grey or just metal, I'm not too sure.

How does the acetone work?
 
CanukMauser said:
How does the acetone work?
Click to expand...

Put some on a rag, and start to rub off the post war paint. Basically it eats off the newer paint, and usually leaves the original paint behind. I'm not sure if there is anything original underneath, hard to say, but it's worth a try IMO. If there isn't any original paint left, I'd just repaint it and add some decals.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom