D Bale paratrooper helmet?

[MMarty]

I know how rare it would be for this to be real but can someone give me an opinion on this thing? The chin strap looks to new to be original, and I’m not sure about the corking. Is this original paint? And opinion on the D Bale I know it’s hard to see I’ll get better pics soon

[MMarty]

How do I post pics?

[Rescue190]

You should be able to follow this link.

Posting photos from a photo cd saved to computer.

John

[Tank Destroyer]

Love to see the helmet.

The real Marty LOL

[MAP]

This is a nice tutorial on posting photos. Simple once you do it once.

Visual Guide to Upload Photos

[MMarty]

[christek]

I would expect an original M2 D Bale shell to have a lower batch number, one in the 900's I feel is too late. Most I have seen seem to all fall within the 200 series. It may be the small pics but period D bales themselves were not made from stainless steel, as the examples here appear to be. The liner itself seems to be incorrect, the webbing appears to be OD #7, not OD #3. The shell appears to have been sanded? Especially on the white unit markings which are for the 506th, a very desirable unit for a M2. In my opinion I feel it has been put together and not original. It is still a nice display example of a very hard to find and expensive helmet!

[Kohima]

Yet another tragic case of a fine and once-original item, converted into a reproduction.
Along with all the reasons keen-eyed Chris points out, notice how the worst areas of wear, scratching and rust are all centred on the insignia... nice re-enactors’ helmet, slapped about and left out in the garden for a while, methinks.

If ever I find myself in doubt of any item, I always ask myself, “could I sell that?”

By all means, wait for a few more answers... but I think they will mostly be the same.
All the best,
Bob

[MMarty]

Thank you guys for the reply’s, I felt the same way about the scratches on the insignias and the rust just looks too new. As odd as that sounds lol

[BlackCat1982]

Sorry it is a fake 506th lid. The stencil markings are too large for an original.