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M42 helmet shell, original colour?
First of all, let me say I don't know much about German helmets, other than how to distinguish between the types M35, 40 & 42. This M42 shell literally fell into my lap yesterday while visiting a friend and another guy I know came in with it and said he found it while clearing an attic. I usually don't collect German helmets, but to me this one seemed to be still in the original paint so I took a chance and bought it from him. I asked about the liner, but he said he didn't find it at that attic. According to the son of the deceased man whose attic was cleared his father picked it up from the street at the end of the war, the usual unverifiable story.
I would like to know your opinions about the paint, could it indeed be original? It's a very rough, matt paint with an almost sharkskin-like texture, but it doesn't have sand or ground cork mixed in. It seems to be in very good condition, with some wear on the edges and on top. I'm not a very good photographer, but I have the shell here at hand so I can make more pics if needed. The stamping is barely legible so I tried to enhance it a bit with some chalk, it seems to be 'NS63 / 6555'; I'm not sure about the 'S'. There are no signs of any decal.
Any comments welcome! 
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08-27-2016 11:42 AM
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After doing some more research it seems there are no shells made in size 63, so I measured on the inside around the holes for the liner pins and it's actually a size 68 for a size 60/61 liner. The maker 'NS' is the 'Vereinigte Deutsche Nikelwerke', apparently. Is it possible to approximately date it from the lotnumber 6555?
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August 1942 from the data I have on NS lot numbers. Correct if I am wrong please.
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by
JerryB52
August 1942 from the data I have on NS lot numbers. Correct if I am wrong please.
Thank you, that would make this a pretty early M42, I think?
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Hi, the paint work looks totally correct to me, and yes, that will be a nice big 68!! Leon.
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by
FALLSCHIRMJAGER
Hi, the paint work looks totally correct to me, and yes, that will be a nice big 68!! Leon.
Thank you!
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No dissenting opinions, so I think it's good. I think I'll complete it with a repro liner and chinstrap, so I can display it; no decal as none was ever applied to it. Now I have some reading up to do about what features are correct.
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