Do you remove paint from your helmets and if so when would you do it?

[M.E.E.]

So my in-laws surprised me with this Canadian MkII CLC 1942 (1943 liner) made helmet the other day. The issue is that is has been painted black and I am almost positive that the paint is post war (I touched a spot with thinner and the black disappeared), so the question becomes should I remove the black paint to put it back to original paint or leave it as it is? What is peoples opinions on removing paint from these helmets? I know if this was blue and marked police I wouldn't bother, or if it was post war MP or something like that I wouldn't touch it but this one being black I am just unsure. Sorry if this question has been asked a million times.
Thanks for your time and thoughts.

[Anderson]

Well you have already begun, so you may as well continue. It's a ugly black helmet and your experiment with the thinner seems to suggest you can lift the black without damaging the underlying green. Probably it's a thin black coat of cheap paint. But work slowly in small sections at a time and don't leave the thinner on for long, watching for any signs of damaging the original paint. If you continue post a photo when you finish. Good luck!

[lew07]

I think the answer is You do what ever You can live with in the long run. Once it is done its done.In Your case it looks like the right thing to do

[Composite]

I don't like the concept of stripping as it usually ends in a mess...but your initial effort seems to make this one "do-able"....but I'd do it in little patches as you've already started. The fact that the black may have been a war time civil coat doesn't seem to cut any ice here (Heretics!!!! ;-) ) so good luck.....

[BlackCat1982]

The black appears very glossy for a wartime paint job. I would also be inclined to remove it, but br careful not to ruin the liner.

[Jerry B]

The black appears very glossy for a wartime paint job. I would also be inclined to remove it, but be careful not to ruin the liner.

If you look at the pic of the complete underside where the lights are not shining on it, it does not appear so shiny and does look to possibly be original wartime home front paint though in the hand outside would be best to tell.

The owner can do whatever he wants with his helmet and as he has started I hope it works out for him.

[M.E.E.]

The patch that I included in the picture was there already , I took off a spot lass than 1mm under the rim, I would never do something like the picture, that was just rub damage sorry if people thought that. Thanks BlackCat, that was what made me test, the black looked off, I have a stripper that will not harm oil based paint so I gave it a touch and the q-tip came back black. Does anyone know if all the paints used during the war were oil based or would acrylic paints already be being used (they started being used early 1940's in certain applications just don't know about military).

[M.E.E.]

If you look at the pic of the complete underside where the lights are not shining on it, it does not appear so shiny and does look to possibly be original wartime home front paint though in the hand outside would be best to tell.

The owner can do whatever he wants with his helmet and as he has started I hope it works out for him.

Thanks Jerry, that is what I am worried about, I really don't want to destroy a period paint job, even if it is just black. I only did a small 1-2mm patch under the helmet lip that you would be hard pressed to even find unless I showed you where. Do you know if there is any way to be sure about the paint? Would better pictures help confirm or deny it was most likely war period?

[Jerry B]

Thanks Jerry, that is what I am worried about, I really don't want to destroy a period paint job, even if it is just black. I only did a small 1-2mm patch under the helmet lip that you would be hard pressed to even find unless I showed you where. Do you know if there is any way to be sure about the paint? Would better pictures help confirm or deny it was most likely war period?

Try and get some outdoor pics in natural light without too much sun, slightly overcast.

[M.E.E.]

Try and get some outdoor pics in natural light without too much sun, slightly overcast.

Thanks Jerry, I will see what I can do but we haven't had a overcast day in about 3 weeks and not much predicted in the future. I feel super bad that people think that the one picture was me testing, I just added that to show the colour through the rubbed paint, I believe doing as little to my militaria as I can (I won't even remove a liner if there is paint over the screw since it can damage it). As soon as we have a bit of cloud I will try and get a picture on here.