M35 Q68 DD Luftwaffe. My First Double.

**KradSpam** · 07-03-2012, 07:29 PM

My lovely Lufty has flown in

My first double decal helmet here, and I'm pretty damn pleased. It's obviously a double decal Luftwaffe M35, big ol' bucket of a Q68. I can't read the lot number properly as it was named at that point which was then scratched out, presumably the helmet had a couple of owners, making the number very tricky to read. The lid is all factory standard, made in the first half of 1940 at the Quist plant in Esslingen. The liner is dated 1939, reinforced type with rounded chinstrap bales. the split pins are all untouched and dated 1940. Both decals are great, the eagle is in great condition, but was denazified at some point. The legs and swas are from a repro decal but in hand you just can't tell. I really like the pattern of light crazing on the tricolour.

The most striking feature is when you turn it over and check out the liner. There is a Fallschirmjager kneepad under it at the crown, put in there by the Luft trooper for extra padding. The pad is much cleaner on the opposite side, and has some nice old rust stains matching spots in the shell. Also the paint in the dome is much smoother, having been protected by the pad. There is also a long cord threaded through the holes in the liner. Before the helmet arrived I was unsure if this was period, but after looking at the wear on the leather I am now certain it is. Notice the way the hole is distorted by the cord (I took 2 comparison pictures of the best example to show this), and the cracking in the leather in places nicely follows the line of the cord below it.

I hope you folks like it, It's one of my favourite lids now (note the new avatar

)

Cheers for looking guys!
Andy

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 07-03-2012 07:29 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Walkwolf** · 07-03-2012, 08:44 PM

Nice looking DD lid in a huge size.........!

**HJ-Collector** · 07-03-2012, 08:53 PM

hey andy nice DD luft has heaps of charcter mate an by the best maker!

**VolksJager** · 07-03-2012, 11:55 PM

Looks good mate, DD's are great aren't they!

Cheers
Jason

**KradSpam** · 07-04-2012, 12:06 AM

Cheers guys

Jason, they are awesome

I've never had the problem before of which side to display..... a delicious conundrum.

**helmet2id** · 07-04-2012, 12:31 AM

Very nice helmet indeed. Congrats on the first one, now you are definitely hooked! Jim G.

**Danmark** · 07-04-2012, 03:40 AM

Very nice helmet Krad!! Lots of reasons why the pad would have been there but I'm leaning towards comfort ... for maybe an old head wound ( a lot of young WW1 soldiers made it to WW2 on guard duty and other non-combat roles ) and maybe the "netting" effect of the woven cord helped as well. I can imagine with a plate in your head, wearing a helmet would have been uncomfortable after a while! The possibilities are, however, endless.

Dan

**sitges1990** · 07-04-2012, 03:50 AM

Wonderfully unique example there Andy with endless character. I do like your new avatar, but I'm getting old and easily confused. If I see too many name or avatar changes it could cause a stroke.

Enjoy that beauty!

Jay