Post war M1 restored.

[Mickzilla]

Hey!

I had this post war M1 helmet, and i decided to try and restore it like a WW2 M1 Medic helmet. - So here is some pictures of the result, and i just wanted you guys opinion


Currahee!

/Mick

[NickD]

very nice mate job well done but weres the pic of it before you gave it new life ????

[soalebm]

I restored a vietnam era helmet once and it looked great but I always felt that it needed something else. So I let it roll around in the trunk of my car until the paint scuffed and now it does not bug me. Hopefully you can fight the urge to toss it down the driveway a few times!

[NickD]

unfortunately im no good at restoring only derestoring so i sent an WW2 M1 helmet i had away to a guy i know to do the job for me should get it back soon & i'll post some pics of it but i do have a couple he sent me as a teaser

[Mickzilla]

Thanks Nick!

Something went wrong before with the uploading of the pictures, well here they all are again! i hope the upload is successful this time

You can clearly see that the middle picture, is the one of the helmet before i had my hands on it.

/Mick

[Mickzilla]

I restored a vietnam era helmet once and it looked great but I always felt that it needed something else. So I let it roll around in the trunk of my car until the paint scuffed and now it does not bug me. Hopefully you can fight the urge to toss it down the driveway a few times!

Yeah, i thought about it, but im afraid that i wont be satisfied with the result.

/Mick

[Mickzilla]

unfortunately im no good at restoring only derestoring so i sent an WW2 M1 helmet i had away to a guy i know to do the job for me should get it back soon & i'll post some pics of it but i do have a couple he sent me as a teaser

That looks pretty damn sweet - I like the way the helmet is "aged".

/Mick

[NickD]

That looks pretty damn sweet - I like the way the helmet is "aged".

/Mick

yeah the guy that does this is an absolute artist at this sort of thing he gave me some tips about aging them he said you need sandpaper, wire wool, salt & coffee you then use the sandpaper & wire wool to scuff it up then leave outside in all weather & rub it the coffee & salt & repeat every so often till you have the desired affect

[battle gear]

I bought a bamboo Chinese wok cleaning brush like this and used it to weather a helmet for an experiment and it worked well to give it a been there used look

I hit the helmet several times to scratch the paint with the bamboo brush, then I sprayed sea water from the ocean all over it and wrapped it in a plastic bag for several days to cause it to get a rusty aged look on the exposed metal, then after I got the desired amount of rusting I sprayed it off with fresh water and used a little soap to neutralize the corrosive effects, then I left it outside for a month in the hot sun and let the dust and dirt bake on it, and it looked original, the rust spots were a nice dark brown and it looked well aged.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/asia...-wok-brush.jpg

[Mickzilla]

yeah the guy that does this is an absolute artist at this sort of thing he gave me some tips about aging them he said you need sandpaper, wire wool, salt & coffee you then use the sandpaper & wire wool to scuff it up then leave outside in all weather & rub it the coffee & salt & repeat every so often till you have the desired affect

Thats nice, ill try those things, starting tomorrow!
Thanks Nick! - I'll post some pictures in a few weeks.

/Mick