Luftschutz

[timothy]

Nice one piece Gladiator as said they are rare with decal check out decal closely. Price is right. timothy

[blastedmind]

i'm not a fan of decal, the second and third wing are to close together.

[davejb]

To me, all the left hand wings look too close together compared with the right,also the decal looks to have a raised edge to the bottom of the swastika area, almost like its too thick, I'm on the fence with this one

[cricketchris1944]

Sorry the shell is good but the decal is bad.
chris

[cricketchris1944]

Look at the acorn and the wing.

[visor]

what exactly am I looking for? The space between the wings?

[helmet2id]

what exactly am I looking for? The space between the wings?

That is why I asked for shots of the edges of the wings on the decal. There should be a space between the 2nd and 3rd feathers, as so well demonstrated on Chris' picture. There is no space on yours, and there are other graphic imperfections as well. It is, unfortunately, a repro decal. The shell, liner and paint are good and the price paid was excellent for a no decal one piece gladiator Luftschutz helmet. It would have been a home run if the decal was good, but even though it is not, you did not overpay. Sorry for the bad news, Jim G.

[visor]

I have seen this decal without the spacing. If you check german helmets.com, under Luftschutz helmet types. The one piece gladiator helmet shown has an almost identical decal. Also the two other helmets shown also have different decals. Please list the other imperfections so I can understand what exactly is wrong. Personally I don't care much for the helmet, but find it odd someone would put a fake decal on such an unimportant lid.

[helmet2id]

A few shots of the edges will help. Absent the gap, I still say repro. Plus, the acorns don't match real decals, and the graphics on yours correspond with a common repro. See the "Fake Decals" section on GHW. Regarding motivation for enhancing a relatively inexpensive helmet, one thing comes to mind - money. A $150 dollar helmet becomes a $250+ helmet. Ebay is a great dumping ground, but in this case, the bids did not reach the levels that a real decaled one-piece would be expected to fetch. That should tell you something as well... I have no dog in this fight, just a lay opinion, my 2 cents, which my wife will repeatedly tell you aren't worth a penny. Best regards, Jim G.

[visor]

I also do believe that this is most likely a repro. The line details are lacking in the right accorn, and in some parts too heavy towards the right side of the wing...IMO. I can see what you guys are seeing.