What is the coreect placement of SS decals?

[qotd]

G'day All,

I am restoring a post war repaint M42 shell, the shell was stripped and repianted for post war use, I believe in poland.found none of the original paint, so now I have a clean stripped shell, that I want to restore to resemble a Waffen SS helmet. I have heard of reverse decals etc, but waht would have been the correct reulation placement of the decals for a Waffen SS German soldier?

This is for my own project and gratification, I wont be passing this off as a original believe me, It's just I have this spare shell and wanted to have a tinker with it.

I actualy already have restored this shell to a Heer M42, but was not happy with the colour.

Thanking you,

Tony

[nkumburis]

Personally i wouldn't put any decals on because you don't know if it had decals in the first place and just repaint it with a dark gray rough finish but thats just me do whatever makes you happy - Nick K

[Masonk]

Below is correct placement of all decals. Note however, most M42's from 1943 on did not have any factory decals applied. But of course this your helmet so who cares!


Decal Placement: All decals were to be placed 5mm under the vent holes on a standard steel helmet (same distance under the front spanner bolts on a Fallshirmjäger shell).

•For Heer, Kreigsmarine, & Luftwaffe, the National Eagle goes on the left side, tri-color shield on the right.
•For SS, the "SS" runes goes on the right side, and the swastika shield on the left.
•Polizei has the police eagle on the left, and the swastika shield on the right.

[davejb]

Normally the shell would have been issued without decals as per regulations for that time period, however Waffen SS were a law unto themselves and sometimes added the SS runic shield to the right hand side, centrally placed below the vent hole about 5mm down, they usually did not add the party shield to the left, this was not always the case in respect of Field Police who used both decals throughout the war, however in November 1943 subsequent orders were issued that all front line troops remove the service branch decals but again this was not strictly followed

[qotd]

Thanks for all your replies, I can understand the no decal option, but since the war this helmet has been "mucked" with by repainting, polish post war liner and has lost its original history. Also it has been mucked with by me as a project piece. I have replaced the polish liner and chin strap with high quality replicas, but am on the hunt for a reali liner, and I dont have an SS helemt in my possesion, so I thought I would "rebirth" to resemble an SS example.

One more question, textured paint? Was this done by simple throwing sand on the helmet?, or was it applied in the factory? please excuse my ignorance on this area.

[davejb]

Both as far as im aware, there was a process for adding aluminium oxide into the paint at the factory but the helmet was also painted in the field by various means, sand , dirt and mud added into the paint. if i were you id leave the replica liner in , real liners will cost a fair packet nowadays, and it would not increase the value of the helmet, this lid is for your pleasure so its up to you, but paersonally why pay that amount of money for something which is no longer original

[qotd]

Both as far as im aware, there was a process for adding aluminium oxide into the paint at the factory but the helmet was also painted in the field by various means, sand , dirt and mud added into the paint. if i were you id leave the replica liner in , real liners will cost a fair packet nowadays, and it would not increase the value of the helmet, this lid is for your pleasure so its up to you, but paersonally why pay that amount of money for something which is no longer original

Excellent point there, why waste money on an original liner when the rest is basiclay fantasy? The shell is real, and all I am wanting to do is basicly make my own SS helmet....thanks for your "sane" approach, after all it will only be a example of what an SS helmet might have looked like, and it is only for my own personal indulgence! If I found a real SS shell I would leave it alone and not even bother with liners, so why bother with a made up piece!

[qotd]

on that, The repro line I bought, which is correctly marked but has a huge "made in germany" sticker on it has aged aover the last 3 years. also the liner pins which are repro but marked with 1943 and a makers marked have aged as well. I will post pics to show just how easy it may be to sell repros as authentic. I was quite surprised how "authentic" the liner pins look now after 3 years!

[Walkwolf]

Paint it a dark grey, age it a little, remove the sticker, put in the liner,
and put the SS decal on - centered 5mm below the vent hole.

The great thing is, if you don't like your paint job, you can re-do it
before you slap on the decal...........!