how do i preserve and glue brittle latex/plastic ? (gasmask)

[danhashman]

hello to all...

i´m in process of restoring a REALLY time-damaged swiss WW II gasmask. The plastic is very dry & brittle, and severly broken on many points, so much that the gasmask has sort of lost it´s shape. One would think that this mask´s time is over, but i really wanna sorta reconstruct & preserve it.. Superglue did not work, neither did scotchtape to unite the seperated/broken edges. so i was thinking of shoeglue.. so you see that this matter is rather desperate. is there any advise on this issue? how to avoid further deterioration of the plastic, and how to rstore and glue on it?

Thanxx..

Thank you

[GasMasksUK]

It sounds like its too far gone to be worth restoring, pictures would be a good idea so I can get an idea how serious the deterioration is. If its completely falling apart theres not much that can be done other than keeping it in a dry, cool enviroment. This will hopefully slow down the deterioration process, and at least it will be all original instead of something stuck together with glue and tape.

Thanks

Danny

[danhashman]

Hey Dan..

I really got into it last night, at last i experimented with shoeglue to glue the proken parts togheter. I know it is not very elegant, but i prefer having a mask that can be desplayed and that can actually be recognized as what it is, instead of having a box full of rotten plastic. It might be inadequate from a collector´s point ow view, but look at how it is now, i can even wear it again (can´t believe it yet). I treated the surface with an vynil-treatment for cars (& UV protector), it is supposed to give certain stuff back which has ben lost thru time.. Unfortunatly i didn´t take pics from the incredibly bad state it was before, but look now (& dont be to hard with your veredict..)

[GasMasksUK]

Looks like you've managed to make a really good job I have a rough idea where the breaks in the facepiece would be and I think you've done the right thing as it must have been a pile of rubber and other pieces before you stuck it together. There are other methods for attaching rubber together, however that shoe glue seems to have done the trick maybe a little bit of paint that matches the colour of the mask could be airbrushed over the joins to make them less obvious.

Also, I wouldnt advise wearing the mask, in fact you should probably pour PVA glue into the filter as they're old, deteriorated and have potentially now dangerous contents.

Thanks

Danny

[danhashman]

thanx dan..
you´re the gasmask expert on this forum, so your opinion and positive evaluation of my work is very much appreciated.. i already poured white glue diluted with water into the asbestos-filter of an british ww II gasmask that i own - or maybe it´s canadian? (actually i posted it on wrf), so i shall do it again.. i just wore the mask for the pic, but muchas gracias amigo for the advice. Is there anything else that you could tell me about this piece? all i know is that it is swiss, and that the filter is from 1937, pretty old.. By the way, that shoe-glue (to fix soles & stuff) does an awsome job on gluing plastic, latex and so, the mask feels pretty resistant now...

[GasMasksUK]

No problem and I'm far from an expert on this kinda thing, there are some guys who's lives revolve around collecting and researching this sort of thing As for information about the mask, I believe that its known as a "C-Maske" I've never really had any interest in Swiss Gas Protection equipment, but you'll more than likely find out some information here: gasmasklexikon

Thanks

Danny

[Poromies]

By the way, I wouldnt recommend breathing through that filter if it was manufactured before the sixties, might contain asbestos in it, which I, as an urban explorer, have breathen alot, and I can tell you, it is not fun to have a burning sensation in your lungs.

[GasMasksUK]

By the way, I wouldnt recommend breathing through that filter if it was manufactured before the sixties, might contain asbestos in it, which I, as an urban explorer, have breathen alot, and I can tell you, it is not fun to have a burning sensation in your lungs.

Already been covered nice to see another person into urbex on the forum though


Thanks

Danny