Q M35 DD Luft

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 03-13-2014, 09:36 PM

Hi Bob,

I am lucky that I grew up in an era (50's) that virtually all my friends had father's who were WW2 veterans. Most of them had German war souvenirs - and there was no question about their authenticity. German helmets were ten a penny, and not worth the effort of forging. They often turned up on the local rubbish tip or in junk shops. Now it is a different matter. I know people who have collected for as long as I have, but they will no longer touch WW2 German militaria. For them it is now too risky, there are far too many dodgy dealers. A money back guarantee is NO guarantee of an items authenticity either. In some cases it is just another tool to convince the buyer that their purchase is genuine. if the buyer later finds out he has bought a dodgy item what has the seller lost? Nothing at all. He will probably just claim that it was such a convincing fake that he too was taken in. Everyone is out to make money at the expense of the poor unsuspecting average collector. The best advice I can give you is to get BOTH helmets checked out by someone who really knows his stuff. I am not always convinced that you can tell just by pictures alone if an item is the real deal. They really need to be handled and examined properly. There are people on this website that would have me burned at the stake and cast me as a heretic for saying such things!

Cheers,
Steve.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 03-13-2014 09:36 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**magneto** · 03-13-2014, 09:55 PM

Steve , Again thanks for your informed comments, and your words are good advice indeed. In fact i went to an Arms fair the other week and got burned with a Luftwaffe belt buckle, luckily though the belt itself turned out to be a Kriegsmarine issue and i picked up a KM buckle locally so maybe not all lost .

Regards again, Bob

**Aus der Traum** · 03-14-2014, 02:27 AM

Nice thick overpaint! Looks like someone had a dig around to see the decals..

Well done!

Josh

**FALLSCHIRMJAGER** · 03-14-2014, 03:56 AM

Hi Bob , I have looked at these two helmets before and must confess to have been one of the silent "fence sitter's"! While I feel confident that the decals/liner and chinstraps are fine on both helmets I have never felt comfortable with the rough over paint. Did they both come from the same seller? I only ask that as if I had seen the KM on it's own I would have said "good" but to have two helmets with the same type of unusual finish from different service branches at the same time seems a huge coincidence to me(although not impossible of course)!! Just my opinion but it set off a warning bell in my thoughts ,Leon.

**magneto** · 03-14-2014, 10:20 AM

Leon, they are not from the same seller or even the same continents, Ha ha I just went into buying mode and amazingly they arrived on the same day even though they were sent at different times ( customs stopped one of them and emptied some more of my hard earned out of my pocket !! ). I see where you are coming from though. regards Bob

**radidas** · 03-14-2014, 01:43 PM

Hi Bob
Personally, I prefer this one to the KM, but that's just me. I'm pretty sure the decals have been dug on the lufty as others have said but that's not the end of the world, quite a common thing for collectors to do that in the past but is now a cardinal sin!

Chris