what do you think of this now.

[davejb]

Rob, i have been sitting here trying to construct an answer to your post which doesnt sound arrogant nor condescending, two words which throughout this post i have not seen nor even attributed towards Griffinz, He asked a question, he recieved answers, honest answers perhaps critism but constructive critism not destructive, should we , as fellow collectors, say to anyone who has , in effect over restored an item, that it looks terrific, should they be praised, molly coddled, or would you prefer to have an answer that makes a person realise that perhaps it was an action that has resulted in an item being reduced to a less than attractive prospect, for both he and any prospective buyer in the future, had our friend asked prior to "having a go " then he would have no doubt received many posts regarding "how to " etc and would have been afforded all the help needed, unfortunately there are and have been many threads over the past 2-3yrs, where all the advices given seems to have fallen on deaf ears, even to the point of new members becoming extremely rude and insulting towards the more experienced members here, restorations of any sort must be sympathetically dealt with and not go too deep. Of course a persons item is their own and its up to them what a person does with it, but if that person expects to post the item and not be willing to accept that perhaps he or she has made a mistake in the eyes of the more experienced, then what are we to do, if the person has, in their eyes restored an item for the sole purpose of making a profit should we condone that, this forum is not an evaluation centre, but we're not adverse to offering advice for the purpose of , say, insurances , , There is , in my opinion, concerning this particular thread no instances of being arrogant , condescending, insulting or being high and mighty or plain rude, and i hope that Griffinz takes what has been said as an honest appraisal of the item shown and of the actions taken

[griffinz]

Right I thanks for the opinions, but I'm not doing this for profit ..... I'm doing it because the helmet looked bad it now looks right....I personally don't care what some guys on hee say,,but I respect the knowledge some of you have others need to get off there high horses everyone's opinions on items are different I'm happy and the helmet is happy lol........

[Aus der Traum]

Yes indeed, and this is making me uncomfortable. I know griffinz asked 'what do you think of this now?', but answers, even where they are in disagreement, need to be polite, and I feel some of the posts are very close to the unacceptable. After all, when it comes down to it, he can dump the helmet in Nitric Acid if he wants to, it's his property.

Rob

Hi Rob,

I can understand what you're saying and despite having read through the thread again, I am struggling to see any of our members conducting themselves in a way that could be viewed as 'unacceptable'.

Of course, many of our fellow members are regretful for what was done to the helmet, and have expressed such opinions. I do not think that these are elitist comments, merely expressions of opinions based on their experiences as collectors.

Many (including myself) feel that there were safer avenues that our fellow member could have taken, in order to preserve the historical value of this scarce Kriegsmarine helmet.

Some at the time felt that the helmet had been ruined, and while I do no think that this is entirely true, what other ways did members have to voice such an opinion? If some thought the helmet was ruined, they said so. I think the members were just being honest and truthful, and some offered advice on what to do if faced with a varnished helmet in the future. Things can easily be 'lost in translation' over the internet, and I think that this might be what has happened here in this thread.

This is how things look from where I am standing, and while we differ in opinion, I completely agree that we must always treat each other with respect here on the forum.

All the best,

Josh

[DougB]

Hi Griffinz, You never said you were doing this for profit, I was responding to one of several posts discussing the helmets "new value" which was not part of your question and thats why I said IF you did this for profit. No accusations were made nor inferred that you were doing so. Please don't take it that way. I made a point about money and won't change my stance on that. I also said in response to your repeated asking and the threads title for peoples opinion that I don't like it and felt that greater care could have been taken, I have had varnish removed from a KM helmet and the helmet retained its correct look, something I said as a basis for my negative opinion. You praise those who agree with you and those that don't are now on a hi horse. That's fine, but don't ask if you don't want any constructive criticism. Sorry for the blunt assessment but nothing personal. Again, it's your lid, if your happy with it then super.

Rob, I do not feel there has been any rude comments at all in this thread.

The money angle I feel has no place in a thread about a home made restoration and apparently a lot of fellow collectors agree with this.

Anyway, there is no reason for this thread to devolve. Some like it. Some don't. Some don't care. It's all good either way. Regarding value, I am in the don't care camp. ;-)

Carry on folks.

Doug

[Teufel]

I think it looks weird now the contrast of the varnished decal with the matte finished helmet...

better to leave things 'original' I think in this case..

[Walkwolf]

Maybe if the helmet were re-treated with a non permanent oil
or something similar, it will bring the paint back somewhat,
and make it look less pale.........

[ObKrieger]

Honestly, the paint is discolored either way, but if it were my helmet I would have left it with its yellow patina.

[goodbuys]

Rommel1942,You are talking a great view of why we collect these pieces and never waiver from that.When i started in 1969 you could pickup all sorts of items and i enjoy telling the new collectors how it was.Greed has taken over much of the hobby and you as a 16 year old are aware of the lack of decency by many of these cretins who have been in the hobby for awhile.No matter what you collect remember the dead soldiers on both sides who gave there lives and left behind these items as a reminder!!Keep up your attitude about these items and you will enjoy the hobby alot more than others who consider this a money tree.Carl

[Battery Command Post]

There is , in my opinion, concerning this particular thread no instances of being arrogant , condescending, insulting or being high and mighty or plain rude, and i hope that Griffinz takes what has been said as an honest appraisal of the item shown and of the actions taken

I can understand what you're saying and despite having read through the thread again, I am struggling to see any of our members conducting themselves in a way that could be viewed as 'unacceptable'.
I do not think that these are elitist comments, merely expressions of opinions based on their experiences as collectors.

Thanks for the replies, i don't want to start an argument. The answer to my question "Am I the only one who feels this thread has become a little bit unreasonable?" is yes, I am the only one.

Rob, I do not feel there has been any rude comments at all in this thread.

The money angle I feel has no place in a thread about a home made restoration and apparently a lot of fellow collectors agree with this.

Doug. I feel there were rude comments in this thread. Speaking as a fellow collector, I agree with you totally, the money angle has no place in the thread at all (and it was the issue that made me uncomfortable). However, and I'm hoping that you will take this as just me being truthful, and saying it as i see it, it was you that actually started it.

Rob

[DougB]

No worries Rob, my comments were not intended to be rude but therein lies the problem of the written word vs the spoken word, a total lack of context and thus misinterpretation of direct statements and comments is open to others.