Kreigsmarine M35 - Before & After Post War Paint Removal

[Trumper]

Hi,

I bought this helmet from Brian Bell off his website in America.
It was dirt cheap because it had been painted bright blue post war and as I'm into restoring things, this was a good candidate for restoration.
The photos show what I started with and what I have ended up with, I still have one more stage to go, to remove the small traces of blue paint that dot the helmet.
Once I removed most of the blue paint, I noticed that this helmet was indeed a camouflage helmet, traces of tan cross hatching can be clearly seen on the left rear of the helmet.
Also evident was the outline of the National Sheild that used to inhabit the right side but was scraped off as per 1940 regulations.
The KM decal is in excellent condition, a few scrapes and scratches, but the dual level construction is obvious.
Unfortunately I had to remove the liner to remove the blue paint but as it had already been removed in the past, I just did it carefully, the split pins are early brass and all have their original washers.
The chinstrap is an original early issue, but not to this helmet, it's just there for display.

Let me know what you think,
John

[Dimas]

very nice job, did you use some dissolvers and then mechanical cleaning?

[NickD]

nice job Trumper looks perfect another helmet saved keep up the good work

[fireguyfire]

Could you enlighten us on how you removed the paint? It could help other people who have a helmet needing restoring.

[Nick VR]

Hi Trumper


What is there to say except that you've done a terrific job. Good luck with the rest of your project...


Greetz

Nick VR

[Trumper]

very nice job, did you use some dissolvers and then mechanical cleaning?

I used regular paint stripper from the hardware store. Knowing that any remaining original paint would be very hard and the newer paint not so hard, I had a minute or two before the paint stripper started to affect any original paint.
So it was a rapid on and off with the paint stripper, also lots of running water to counteract the stripper.
I used a kitchen sponge to wipe off the dissolved blue paint under running water, it peeled off very easily.
I sectioned the helmet off and did a small area at a time.
It took me about three or four hours all up.
The hardest place of all was the inner rolled edge and around the decal.
There are still specs of blue paint here and there, particularly around the rolled edge and decal, I'm hesitant to remove the paint on the decal edges for fear of damaging it.
I will finish it sometime but the final stage is labour intensive as I will have to use a modelers brush, minute applications of paint stripper and a scalpel.

[Trumper]

Three more photos, the first two showing the tan cross hatching camouflage.

[fireguyfire]

Nice job! Are there many helmets out there that have been painted like this? I would be very intersted in finding one or two and trying your technique; anyone got one for sale?

[ironcross1]

Awesome job , well done , cheers Raymond

[Davidh]

fantastic job , rgds Dave