Is this Adrian a candidate for restoration?

[Watchdog]

Good afternoon gents,

Not being a mainstream helmet collector (they are kind of a background area of my collection) I never considered and Adrian before but got this one for a very small cost and recognising that it is far from perfect I wonder if it would benefit from restoration which I would certainly get enjoyment from doing?

I know very little about these but this one appears to me to be a WWI type. The chinstrap is clearly a modern replacement but for display purposes I think I could find a suitable buckle to make it look better. The paint is also very wrong to my eye and is hand brushed, another reason I feel that restoration may be the way to go. I think that the helmet has been in a film studio wardrobe at some point so who knows what else is wrong with it.

Any ides?

Regards

Mark

[Opex]

Hi, personally I would not restore this one, and you are quite correct it is WW1 vintage, the liner looks to be a replacement too, this might well have been carried out in WW2 as these were still worn during this period, which might also suggest the Khaki paint hand painted onto the shell.

The prices of these these particular Adrian models are rapidly rising, in-line with the centenary, the RF badge is very collectable in it's own right.

[douglas2496]

My feeling is that this has been legitimately refurbished for French military use in the interwar period and it would be a shame to strip the paint. It is actually a very nice historic helmet as it is.

[meyle77]

Very nice - keep it as is

[James C]

nice find mark ,i would put this straight on my display shelf as it is regards james

[magicdutchmen]

Just like the gentlemen above me stated.
This helmet has a nice interwar to wartime paint on top of the original bleu.
Keep it as is or trade it off for something else you appreciate more.

[Watchdog]

Sorry to be late in replying but many thanks for the input.

I'm glad to hear that this is probably not the piece of "AmDram" wardrobe crap that I took it for which was the only reason I considered restoring it and hence this thread.

Rest assured I will not mess with it and it shall remain in my collection as an original with a 2nd history!

Regards

Mark

[Gary J]

I'd leave it be ....
Once you start messing with it, ... it's down the pan.

As a rule of thumb, ....Leave it be for at least two weeks to "cool off" after the initial purchase ... then assess the helmet, .... and you will be glad you left it alone.