Curious about helmet

[Bob Hritz]

I have to agree that it is post war painting added by a bored GI or by someone after the war to enbellish a war souvenir. I have seen a number of embellished helmets from high quality art to simple swastikas painted on the helmets.

It is part of the history of the helmet and should be left as is. Sadly, the helmet is not in perfect condition, but there are many collectors who like this sort of embellishment that was done immediately post war.

Bob Hritz

[Jerry B]

I like it, but think the art work was added post 'capture' of the helmet.

Some collectors would not buy a 'messed' with helmet, whilst others think it adds to the 'history' of the object.



Jerry

[Wagriff]

Personally,I can't see,for the life of me,how Anyone could look at the ridiculous crude child-like "artwork" on this helmet and believe that someone actually wore it into combat and fought with it in this state. Opinions were asked of and they were given. In response,all that was received were insults. "Call the Whambulance if you're too sensitive."?? What type of mature response is that? People won't always answer what you Want them to answer. To have a ludicrous reaction like this when they don't helps no one. This is a public board viewed by members from all over the World. People should remember this and have a bit of restraint when frustrated or disappointed. William

[GEORGE]

i have read oxillic acid{forgive my poor memory again} can bring back the original finish, would this not be an idea? george w

[Andrew]

hello gents,
i know i should just let this thread drop, but i found a pic you might all find interesting. i'm not looking to step on any toes here, just that i find it interesting that fact's can be strange at times, and it seems very little is carved in stone as to how things should be. i do agree the white paint on a helment front says "shoot my dumb ass here" but i cant explain this picture of these 3 guys. or the pic i posted on another thread of free corp soldiers with big white swaz's on their helmets, but thats another matter. i wonder how many helmets like this survived?
andrew

[davejb]

Yes there are exceptions but the ones you show here are unit markings i believe, plus you can see that there is a consistant theme in the painting, either all painted by the same hand or a crude stencil, your original post is more than crude, its somewhat nonesensical, and the general opinion is that it was post war done, either by a GI with a limited painting ability or a child to play war games with, the original post has no unit meaning in the decal, its just the national eagle motif which , if you think about it , would be unecessary, the soldier knows hes German, so does everyone else, what would be the point of advertising that fact, none

[Andrew]

hi davejb,
fortunatly i did not post the original helmet. please actually read the posts before you comment. you missed the point of the post compleatly. i was ONLY commenting on the fact that some of the soldiers thought it was a bright idea to actually paint these " hey look at me and shoot me now" white skulls on the front of their helmets. why or how its there is of no matter to the fact it is there. and kind of dumb. i am not commenting on the originaly posted helmet it self. AT ALL. more just teasing bob just a little in a nice way about his comment that even a kid would know better than to do something so dumb. and i agree. but here it is.
andrew

[davejb]

Sorry andrew i meant to say "the" not "your" , and i do read the posts before commenting, but my arguement still stands, and as its been posted in another sub forum, the ones you show are Finnish troops, not German, and they are still unit markings, what another country does re helmet painting is up to them, and i agree ,dumb, but not German , perhaps in WW1 it was quite common practise to paint insignias on the helmets, but much less so in WW2

[Walkwolf]

i have read oxillic acid{forgive my poor memory again} can bring back the original finish, would this not be an idea? george w

I think it is 'Acetone' you may be thinking of George...............

Oxalic acid will remove only surface rust, but acetone will
remove any newer paint or offending graffiti, and leave
the original paint more or less intact.