my new M40

[OrangSoldier]

Hello all!
As some might have seen I know the local fire depts of my village in Bavaria.
Don't know the type

Last week they allowed me to have a look at their old fire depts helmets again.
I found many many post war helmets and about seven or eight overpainted Luftschutz Gladiator helmets.
But there was only one "real" steel helmet. I got it for 10 €.
The chinstrap is not original anymore.
I cant find any engravings.

I can see that the paint underneith is black. Does it mean it's an SS-lid? Or Luftwaffe?
Any idea what the inscriptions mean on the inlet?

pictures say more than words:

[klinger]

try to remove carefull the paint using nail polish remover, but allways carefull and just small areas, you have to use a lot of tissues otherwise you mix up the colors, start first on the maybe decal areas, never scratch the paint just slide over it

[klinger]

and remove carefull the liner and take a look at the liner ring if there is a date or some numbers
nice deal for a 10er

[John Brandon]

Whooh............... NEVER remove the liner! Rule number one.
Chances are the red paint doesn't go all around the inside of the lid, just on the edges (lets hope so) so carefully use some acetone to remove, not paint stripper. It may have been painted black post war. Very few "black" helmets about.

Would like to see it when it's done........slowly slowly, softly softly

[Masonk]

OrangSoldier,
If I'm not mistaken, you had some issues last time around with one of these helmets and wound up removing all of the paint. I believe you used paint stripper as the acetone wasn't successful? If you do use paint stripper, which I wouldn’t suggest, be sure to dilute it with water so it isn't as harsh. Make sure you also have water handy to neutralize the area after applying the paint stripper.

I strongly recommend, however, using Acetone as I have had good results with it. As a reminder, here's my example:

M35 Helmet Restoration

I would assume when this was repainted it wasn’t done using a baking process, so the top layer of paint should come off without disturbing the original paint.

Below is the process I followed that I shared with another forum member. Like I said, it worked well for me. Good luck with this one and looking forward to seeing the end result!!





First and foremost (these tips might be obvious), you'll want several pairs of latex gloves to use throughout the project as I wouldn’t suggest handling the acetone. Make sure you’re in a well ventilated area, and if you have a dust mask, I would suggest wearing it. I had a nice headache after doing this because I didn't wear a mask!

Next, you'll need a couple old, clean rags. I actually used some old cotton diapers. As you rub the paint off, the paint will stick to the rag and when you move on to the next spot on your helmet, you'll need a clean area of the rag. This is because the paint won't rub off onto an area of the rag where the paint has adhered.

Also, keep a bowl full of cold water by you. Have a rag standing by soaked in the water. After you use the acetone on an area (nail polish remover – I used a 10oz bottle for the whole helmet so if you need more, pick it up before you start), take the rag soaked in water to clear off any remaining acetone. Feel free to be generous with the water as this won't damage the helmet. After I applied the water, I used a paper towel to dry off the area before moving to the next.

Some on here have said let the acetone soak on the helmet for 30 seconds, or some other amount of time. Well, there's no set time. I applied the acetone generously to the rag (almost soaked), then rubbed it onto the helmet (don't initially rub in, just gently rub over the area), waited a couple seconds, then rubbed again with the same rag (rub in this timebut not too hard) and the paint came right off. Every situations different though, but after trying a few times, you'll get the timing down.

The total elapsed time was about 20 minutes for me to clear off 95% of the paint (not including finding more rags, beer and smoke breaks!). This is because after I was comfortable with the timing, I started working bigger areas and the paint came flying off. Once it was pretty much cleared, I went back to get areas I might of missed or where the paint was sitting in pitting on the helmet. You won't be able to get it all though, but should get the majority of the paint so it's not noticeable.

I will say be careful around the liner pins. If you are alright with taking them off, which I wouldn't suggest, do this, but only if you know you can with out breaking them. Unfortunately, one of mine snapped. The acetone works quickly on them so you may want to use a Q-tip, working the acetone in slowly.

Of course, if you think there are any decals lying beneath, you'll want to work slowly around the area they may be located. I didn't have any on mine, but had two replicas that were applied. I wasn’t concerned with damaging them, but wanted to clear the paint around them, and just worked the acetone on them the same as the rest of the helmet. I found by clearing the area quickly, I didn't damage them. Not sure how the results would be for decals lying under the paint, though, so tread carefully!

The main thing is to get the timing down from after you’ve applied the acetone to when you wipe it off. Once you get this down, the rest should go smoothly.

[helmet2id]

Whooh............... NEVER remove the liner! Rule number one.
Chances are the red paint doesn't go all around the inside of the lid, just on the edges (lets hope so) so carefully use some acetone to remove, not paint stripper. It may have been painted black post war. Very few "black" helmets about.

Would like to see it when it's done........slowly slowly, softly softly

John, you beat me to it with this advise, and I would add, be especially careful in the ares where there may be decals! Do those areas last after you get used to the process. If there are decals, some with steady hands will slowly remove the paint over them with razor blades rather than using acetone or whatever else. It takes the touch of a surgeon, and is VERY time consuming, but it is worth it in the end, and you don't risk destroying the decals with the chemicals. Good luck with it. Jim G.

[Isle of Wighter]

I reckon this one is going to be a Lufty. The paint inside the dome look like the right colour, as does the small amount you can see where the liner band meets the inside of the shell. Good luck with the clean up.

[Tom Bennett]

Yeah definately don't remove the liner as in take it right out of the shell but just pull the leather upwards and maybe undo the string to inspect the paint (which i'm sure the other gentleman meant by removing the liner).Acetone will remove any paint that has not been on for 60 years and leave anything else.Careful where the decals are but remember its possible to uncover them if they still have the clear laquer over them and it has'nt been scrapped off.Try cleaning the inside first where stamps are as in the centre back flare and left hand front. Black paint underneath could just mean another postwar repaint from earlier fireman use as in the Chech Dept but there could be another layer under that from wartime.Good luck and please show results

Tom

[OrangSoldier]

Hi gentle(wo)men!

More than eleven years later, finally a reply with the result!
Months ago, I found the helmet (still red). I had stopped working on it due to lack of success.... The atetone didn't work very well. It was just too hard to not remove the original paint, too. I have found out why! Because under the red paint there was a grey "Rauhtarn" paint layer. The red paint had connected so tightly with it that it was almost impossible to divide the two layers. I found out that under the Rauhtarn, there was the darker, blueish layer.

So I decided to remove both the red and the Rauhtarn paint. Turns out it was a Luftwaffe helmet! I veeery carefully stripped the paint using a razor blade (or: twenty of them as they dulled). I scraped of the paint. Here's the result:






Greetings, O.S.

[MAP]

Well. That turned out great! Good job.