Shot up SS Helmet apple green

[Eike41]

I am curious Andy, Why would you say
"The uniformity of the remaining colour and bleached out appearance make it look like it’s taken a nice long soak in some Oxalic acid. One to avoid IMO."

Whats wrong with Oxalic acid? Most relic helmets that I have firsthand experience with will rust away to nothing if you don't do something to arrest the active rust. I would agree that this helmet was cleaned up a lot and it is not everyone cup of tea but I think it makes a nice historical display.

[AndyM35]

I am curious Andy, Why would you say
"The uniformity of the remaining colour and bleached out appearance make it look like it’s taken a nice long soak in some Oxalic acid. One to avoid IMO."

Whats wrong with Oxalic acid? Most relic helmets that I have firsthand experience with will rust away to nothing if you don't do something to arrest the active rust. I would agree that this helmet was cleaned up a lot and it is not everyone cup of tea but I think it makes a nice historical display.

Eike, I never said there was anything wrong with Oxalic acid and my comment refers more to the colour on the helmet which to my eyes reminds me of helmets that have been bathed in Oxalic acid. And I’ve seen some great results using it too! Having said that, the holes themselves look very unnatural and coupled with an SS decal that cannot be verified as original, I feel that the helmet is at the very least very questionable as noted by some of the other comments above. It depends I guess on what your collecting goals are. Some collectors strive for all original untouched items while other don’t mind if items aren’t in original condition. It all comes down to individual taste. So, if I was looking for pieces that I felt were untouched and original in condition I would personally avoid this helmet. If you’re happy with it, it doesn’t really matter what other peoples opinions are.

I have hands on experience and own some relic helmets and other items that I believe have historical value. I don’t have anything against relics items but believe any item loses it historical value when it’s been modified. In the past I have used Renaissance Wax on helmets in relic condition and this has effectively arrested the advance of rust and further deterioration.

[Eike41]

Andy,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I have a lot of relic items that I try to keep together without destroying them or reducing the value to nothing. I also use renaissance wax, I find plain wax is easier to remove and much cheaper.

[Oberschutze]

Andy,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I have a lot of relic items that I try to keep together without destroying them or reducing the value to nothing. I also use renaissance wax, I find plain wax is easier to remove and much cheaper.

I agree bee wax is cheap and effective. I also have been using bees wax to preserve helmets- so far no major complaints.

[AndyM35]

Andy,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I have a lot of relic items that I try to keep together without destroying them or reducing the value to nothing. I also use renaissance wax, I find plain wax is easier to remove and much cheaper.

In some cases using wax etc will definitely preserve an item that would otherwise deteriorate as you say. I haven’t tried any other waxes as I still have a huge container of Ren wax and haven’t purchased any relics for some time, but I agree it is quite expensive and not the most cost effective way to go about preservation. Here’s a DD M35 that I applied some Ren wax to about 5 years ago. It hasn’t deteriorated at all in that time. Looks to have potentially had some Oxalic treatment at some point.

[Daarom]

Very strange holes.Was this helmet found in Demjansk ? The Russians have used a new secret weapon Or there are worms that eat steel. Haha LOL. No, I don't know what happened to it. Looks more like a water find. I have seen many helmets that have been in an oxalic bath. But for me this one has not been in an oxalic bathThis helmet was found like this and the rust edges have had a tap with a hammer.. You often see that they have used too much oxalic acid or have left the helmet in it for too long.Then the helmet has yellow spots.. It's not really a candidate for that. (oxallic acid.I think that color is also typical grey and not apple green and then mixed with the demjansk ground color. I think I know these helmet. I think I've seen these helmet before at Spin Russia

[Eike41]

Yes that yellow residue is from the oxalic acid. It was treated and that arrested the rust, wax alone will not seal it enough to completely stop the corrosion unless it is minor.

I like that helmet Andy it is a peach.

[Stuetzpunkt]

As mentioned by Andy "Looks like the holes have been made or at least cleaned up with some type of small electric dremel" I agree with that statement. It seems some holes might have had sharp/thin edges which they "shaved" away to avoid further rusting? or hurting hands when the helmet is handled? Although other edges/holes on the helmet have been left as is. I really doubt that these edges are natural corrosion, but one never knows for certain i guess.

I'll attach photo's of a Russian river find with similar modified holes, I know not all (relic) helmet collectors like helmets in these states. This one I actually like..

[Daarom]

I also have a helmet like that. It was found in a river in Belarus.