Very interesting. Photos would be nice as well!
I added Some pictures
Sorry for the bad quality pictures i Made these with my mobile phone
Great find! It's nice to see the folding stock, which is usually rusted away.
I will always recommend the tea treatment for stabilising relics. Fill a bucket with warm water, dump in a whole packet of teabags and stir. Immerse the relic in the water and leave it for a few hours, then fish it out and dry it in the sun, or in a sealed box with silica gel packets. Tea contains tannic acid, which neutralises active rust. It will give the relic a much darker appearance, but you shouldn't have problems with rust forming again, as long as the relic is kept in a stable environment.
I used the above method on a lake-found M42 helmet that was shedding flakes like no tomorrow. After the treatment, it stopped flaking, and I had no further issues with rust spreading.
Before treatment:
After treatment:
Regards, B.B.
Hi Brody
Thanks for your reply
I am going to try the method you described
and btw great helmet that you found in the river i like the dark look
I'm glad I could help. I should point out that I didn't find that helmet myself! I've purchased all my relics online, as metal detecting here in the UK is a bit of a hassle.
If you're worried about the tea staining the paint remains and the decals, the next best thing to do would be to leave the helmet as it is. I don't see any active rust on those relics, so as long as they're kept in a stable environment they should be fine.
B.B.
MP-40, it is amazing at hoe that the grips are not affected by the time spent in the ground?
Brushing off the loose rust and than indeed with the strong tea method gives some remarkeble results.
Stabilizing the item when thouroughly dry with a matt clear coating or sealer finishes the job.
It is safe enough for the decals.
Picture is from grounddug relic treathed in above described manner.
Rene
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