My first restoration M42

[Nigella]

I've over the last year got into buying relic helmets and cleaning / preserving them, however with this relatively cheap purchase I thought I'd try my hand at a restoration. Its my first go, made mistakes, took longer than I thought (!) and its not perfect, but overall I'm pretty happy with it and perhaps more importantly I've gained experience from doing it. I will do one again I'm sure, though as I say I do prefer cleaning and preserving helmets . According to the seller the helmet was fished out of a river in France.

[M38]

I don't think you will get too many positive comments here as most of us are not fans of restorations. You did a nice job on the shell, filling in the holes and corrosion, but the paint, decal, liner and strap are not very realistic looking. Cleaning/preserving this one might have been a better choice.

Cheers,
Terry

[Nigella]

Fair enough Terry, I did first do the Oxalic business but even after a few soaks and scrubbing there wasn't much paint left at all. As I say I prefer the cleaning / preserving angle myself, but I wanted to try a resto and again its been a learning curve.

[Jack59]

Nothing like trying something out. Restoration is an art & a lot of steps for sure. While doing all of that you develop a connection with the helmet and it's former owner in a way, making you wonder about him. Now back to restoration, details matters & a bit of aging for finition makes the difference. You did your first, turned out ok, the next will be better & so on. The thing here is to enjoy doing your project & be proud of the result. Jack

[Nigella]

Thanks for that Jack, I did consider ageing it but I think I'll leave as is, as you say maybe the next one. There is a 9 year old boy who is the grandson of a chap my mum knows, he's mad on war and tanks etc rather than football or X - box, and I did think of giving it to him as it would make his day (or month). I was given my first German helmet at that very same age (which I still have). And yes it does make you wonder about the owner, did he survive the war and lost this helmet in a chaotic retreat, or was he killed or wounded in France, was he Heer or SS or Luftwaffe ground troops....we'll never know.

[PembrokeYeo]

I think you did an excellent job on what was a knackered old ground dug helmet. It’s now something you can display with pride. Well done to you.

[BlackCat1982]

I like your idea of gifting it to a younger potential future militaria enthusiast. You have resurrected what was a relic shell into a solid looking item. Personally the decal and replacement liner don't enhance the item but I congratulate you on an interesting excercise.

[Schwerpunkt]

I don't think you will get too many positive comments here as most of us are not fans of restorations. You did a nice job on the shell, filling in the holes and corrosion, but the paint, decal, liner and strap are not very realistic looking. Cleaning/preserving this one might have been a better choice.

Cheers,
Terry

+1

[Ian Hayes]

Nice work. Not ment to fool anyone. If you had done too good of a job they would critize that also.