Looking for a new German helmet restoration project.

[seandm]

Indeed Ian like you say the reproduction helmet components these days are just fantastic. It might sound a little OTT going and getting a new liner because of that issue but I get seriously OCD with my restoration jobs. Everything has to be as close to perfect as possible and even though sometimes its little things like this that probably wouldn't bother most people if I know its there it will just bug me until I just decide to redo it again anyway lol. Although that said it never actually turns out fully the way I wanted anyway haha. But in truth I didn't need much of an excuse this time round as I wanted the smaller size leather 66/58, I have 66/59 and I am selling my restored M16 to put a large chunk of the funds towards these next two lids so I want to make sure I am more than happy with them! Cheers, Sean.

[seandm]

Hey all! Well I finished the M35 helmet last night, This one has taken me a while to finish considering how straight forward the restoration job was on the whole but I have had a few hiccups along the way, For instance the 1st set of decals badly misapplied but the varnish set into the paint so I had to strip the entire shell and repaint it again as when I tried to respray over the dry varnish it reacted with the paint. I am very pleased with the finished product, I hope you all like it. I know the decals are not the best quality but truth be told I am tired of paying top dollar for these "high end" decals when 99% of the time they just fall apart when I try to apply them, They may look slightly odd in the pictures as they are still drying. It usually takes about 2-3 days for the varnish to set properly under the decal. I managed to get a Carl Tesch 1938 marked chinstrap as found on some early SS M35's and I purchased a dome stamp I believe should be correct for this helmet. Either way I think it really adds that extra appeal to the lid! Cheers, Sean.

[seandm]

Hey All! A few more pics of the restored lid, I have now coated the decals so they are protected and I have worn the paint on the shell a bit to give it a bit of a sheen so it doesn't look absolutely brand new although that might be hard to see in the pics. Also seeing as I ran into this problem restoring this helmet I thought I would share a tip for anyone restoring German lids... Reproduction helmet decals very often settle with bubbles underneath when you use lacquer or varnish to apply them no matter how careful you are and regardless of quality, You just can't get rid of them all by wiping them gently, I find you are more likely to rip the decal trying to smooth them out. Don't worry if you can't it usually can take 2-3 days for the substance to set properly underneath the decal by which point the bubbles should disappear. Now if on the rare occasion they don't, Give the decals a couple of outer coats of lacquer or varnish and as that sets it should get rid of any remaining bubbles and also protect the decals as you can see from my pics. Cheers! Sean.

[NZEF2]

Hey Sean,

That's a seriously fine restoration job you did, the helmet shell looks flawless. Very nice display piece, well done mate!

[greatwhite]

Good luck Sean, i saw a mint shell in Matlock on sunday only £40, might be going back for it now and have two projects.
Steve

[seandm]

Many thanks Ian, I am very happy overall with how this one has turned out! The shell is indeed pretty much flawless. The only thing I think I could improve with this one is the decals but as previously stated I have over the years wasted a lot of money on decals that misapply and for the price of some of these "high end" decals that are just as likely to misapply as any others, I can get 3-4 sets of regular reproductions so then I have room for error as well. In the end I don't think it detracts too much from the overall finish and I am very happy to display it. Thanks Steve, The helmet is now finished and I will soon be starting on the ET66 M40 I have, Again flawless that I am doing as a textured slate grey finish single decal heer helmet. Then in the next month or two I am hoping to find a ET66 M42 also close to flawless condition and finish that as a luftwaffe helmet although finding the correct blue/grey paint can be a task so failing that I will finish it with a "Normandy camo sheme" Then I will have my matching set lol. For £40 I would have had the guys arm off lol. Hope you get it Steve! Cheers, Sean.

[greatwhite]

Cheers, i just got it over the phone, pick it up tomorrow will post some pictures, US M1 is on its way too happy days.

[Danishkaiser]

Looks great!
Just out of curiosity, what colour (RAL) did you use for the helmet shell? I can relate to the OCD of making it absolutely perfect and historically correct - right now I am looking all over the world just to find a M31 liner with early date stamps (and the same with the split pins).

I can only hope that mine will turn out half as good as yours

- Daniel

[seandm]

Thanks Daniel! I didn't actually use RAL spec paint with this helmet despite my OCD lol. I do usually but there is a decent field grey spray available from a reenactment vendor here in the UK that I think is pretty good. Close enough to satisfy me anyway and it applies a lot better on the whole I find, So went with that on this one and it turned out nice. I can provide more info on the paint if you like! Try Jim Jacques who runs this site for your reproduction components. World War One Helmets | German World War 2 Helmet | World War Two Militaria | Newton Aycliffe | War Memorabilia He is very good, I highly recommend him. I have dealt with him numerous times and he is always more than helpful and willing to try and accommodate my needs. Cheers Sean.

[seandm]

Hey guys! I was hoping someone can help me here. I have no idea how batch codes on different helmet manufacturers correlate etc. My restored SS M35 is an ET66 lot no. 4176. I have just noticed an original SS ET66 with the same lot no. 4176. How does this work? Can anyone enlighten me to as what my shell would have originally been issued as? Any help appreciated! Cheers, Sean.