German paratrooper FJ camo helmet opinions

[Cagney20]

Hi every... been a follower of his site for some time and now just joined. Had a few questions on the camo of this helmet. I got this helmet from a family friend who was in the army for 30 years. He aquired quite a collection of all type of military stuff. When he died I essentially inherited a ton of his stuff because the family knew I was a collector. ..... when I got this M38 it was covered in a thick coat of dark green latex paint, applied by brush, with massive double decals. The paint even covered some of the wire.... I was fine with it as a post war repaint till I actually dropped the helmet and some paint pealed back rebelling a yellow tannish paint. After a day of research and about 45 minutes of carfu pealing, I got what you see now. It's a little ugly and messy, but it is what it is..... can any one tell me anything about the type of paint used, what theater it was used in, and any other info. If 99% sure the camo job is real being that it was covered. I think maybe Africa or Italian campaign..... it seems that the tan is under another 2 coats of green. When some of the latex was removed I could get a great visual of the layers from minor flaking. Ever someone of the lift eagle is visible. Any help would be greatly appreciated...
Attached Images

[real steel]

Now this would make a worthwhile restoration project. Difficult to see what is going on with the wire.

The tan is as you predicted...some tropical environment or Italian theater would be a good guess. Would like to have a hands on.

But it is a real one, worthy of restoring (removing the green post war latex)

Does the wire show signs of the green paint ? It should if it was on the helmet originally & painted green. If not, you might assume the wire was applied after the latex green paint. But in your hands...you determine.

Sorry, your OP did say there was green paint on the wire.

[real steel]

Are you positive the green paint is postwar ? Wondering why someone would bury a tan FJ with decal under green paint postwar with latex paint.

This is all very exciting to me. A decaled tan FJ with bailing wire is "like winning the lottery" !!

As I examine closer, that wire appears to be "dug in" pretty deeply into the shell. Been on there a long time IMO

[Cagney20]

The green latex was so thick and rubbery, there's no way it was original. The way over sized decals on it to were a dead giveaway. I kinda think my friend may have done it himself durning his career. He had an m40 Mel met with the same huge decals. To much of a coincidence for me. I think he just wanted a nice display item in his collection. In the 50s they 70s it was all about the look and not originality I guess. The wire does appear to be like it's dug in. The latex was on parts of the wire. He did a good job of painting it up close and to the wire. The layers also appear sprayed on. No major brush strokes. I personally to feel it wasn't "camo-ed" in this pattern on purpose , but just layered several times and just worn away.

[real steel]

Okay...good Luck. Would love to see the end result if you pursue removing the green paint

[M38]

Maybe I'm missing something and maybe I'm not the only one confused but also Real Steel......anyway, I think you are saying that what we see is the "after" pictures showing what it looks like after the green latex paint was removed? So the green paint we see on there now that is over the tan is original wartime paint? Just seeking some clarification. By the way, the insides and the wire look original at least and happy to see you could remove the latex paint without disturbing the wire.

Cheers,
Terry

[real steel]

Terry, Thanks for chiming in. Yes..I am VERY confused on this thread

[Anderson]

It appears to me from the photo, that the green paint is over top the tan. We need the OP to confirm that. If it is, it makes sense from a war chronology point of view. An FJ unit in North Africa with tan, then withdrawn through Tunisia to Italy where tan is over painted in green.

[Cagney20]

Sorry fellas for not understanding.... it's much easier to explain in person.... and thank you all for responding and the information ..... when first got this helmet , it was a solid dark green latex. Even a majority of the wire was painted dark green. I removed the latex entirely. What was under the latex layer that was removed is what you see. There apears now to be 4 different paints. From what I can tell: 1st is the original apple green. 2nd the tan. 3rd the light green that is mostly visible . 4h are small piece of a dark hunter green...... all are very thin layered

With this paint pattern wold this most likely be former FJ division 1 or 2 early helmet?