M42 cammo help

[paddy]

I still think it is a close call, although I do tend to agree it might be post war paint it must have been a right few decades since it was applied

[Schwerpunkt]

I still think it is a close call, although I do tend to agree it might be post war it must have been a right few decades

Well either you believe or you do not. It is up to you but you have received replies from experienced collectors.

[stahlelm16]

In my opinion pass away from this helmet! Apart from the painting (horrible) liner and chinstrap totally wrong

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I'm more open minded than most when it comes to camouflage patterns, as some soldiers liked to 'stand out' from the rest and tended to do their own thing. But as others have already said... paint in deep pitting is a no no. So stop trying to convince yourself that it might be OK and take the advice that has freely been given.

Cheers,
Steve

[Anderson]

It's not a close call at all. The brown paint it clearly painted into deep rust pitted steel. That level of deterioration of the steel occurred post ww2, possibly even in the ground. The cammo paint is all post war.

[paddy]

Thanks for all the great advice I passed on this one, but it was a good learning exercise.

[Danmark]

The thing to keep in mind is "Postwar" ( even as late as the 1970's ) is now 50 + years ago.

YOU paint something and let it weather for 50 years and see what natural ageing does - it can be a tough call based on paint alone.
You need to be a sleuth - things like layers of the paint, condition of the base metal relative to the paint etc.. etc.. these are the key things to check IMO.