Sadly the planned meeting with Steve to view this helmet has had to be postponed as I've had a job interview come up for tomorrow...and I do need a job!
Hopefully we can reschedule.
Sadly the planned meeting with Steve to view this helmet has had to be postponed as I've had a job interview come up for tomorrow...and I do need a job!
Hopefully we can reschedule.
Good luck with the interview mate.by Glenn66
A successful outcome might keep you off the forum a bit more, and from fragging my a$$ so much 'cos you're bored to death......
'I do not think we can hope for any better thing now.
We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course, and the end cannot be far.
It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. R. SCOTT.
Last Entry - For God's sake look after our people.'
In memory of Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans. South Pole Expedition, 30th March 1912.
All the best in the interview Glenn, I hope you are successful. Leon.
Hi all,
Thought I would try to take some fresh pictures of this helmet on a slight duller day under natural light and at least try to get some structure and order to them all. Firstly I will say that this helmet was difficult for me to photograph ( especially for someone with my photography skills). The helmet colours seem to "pop" more in the pictures than they do by eye with the helmet in the hand ( again probably my terrible photography). For this reason I have added both lots of pictures.
The helmet is a late war ckl 64 M42. No decal. It has a 1944 dated liner. The liner and pins are unquestionably original and never touched.
When you examine this helmet closely it appears that it was camo'd two times. The base colour over the factory colour finish is tan with some browny colour added for a sort of camo pattern. Then a heavy wire was added.
There are a number of scratches that look like branches were stuffed under the wire in different directions creating wear in the paint,. Then.... a spray of green and brick was added, creating a shadow of the wire and covering the scratches. The wire pattern is a combination of shadow and wear into the under laying paint. Very interesting to try to figure what's on top of what under the loupe.
I still intend to catch up with Glenn for a hands on inspection on this one when we can organize a good time.
Cheers,
Some of the interior and close ups of the camo.
And finally some from the previous owner in different lighting.
Well then... I have met up with Steve 2 days ago and viewed the helmet in hand and what can I say?
First, there is no doubt the helmet is original, the liner is nice and tight, is the correct liner band for an M42, has the correct bales and liner pins and the rivet legs are nice and straight and don't appear to have ever been removed, the liner string looks original and there is a decent dome stamp. Definitely no shadow of a decal which should place the helmet as a 'late' M42 and given the lack of wear, that ties in with the likelihood of a 1944-ish manufacture, painting and loss within a short timeframe. So far so good...
Now, the all important camo. First impression is that the paint is bright and distinctively 'Normandy style'. There is no smell to the paint so it is old at least. Whether it is lead based or not would require a chemical analysis but I don't think it is necessary. The wear appears authentic and not forced. Lots of small, random scratches in various directions doesn't make me think of artificial ageing. I got the impression the helmet didn't spend alot of time at the front as it isn't particularly worn or scratched up and the patina is subtle but certainly visible. The wire is the only area that has a question mark attached to it in my opinion. I can only assume that if the helmet was wired when it was painted, then it didn't stay wired for long. The paint wear is negligible and where the wire should have attached under the helmet brim, I was hard pushed to see any signs of wear at all. Further on the wire topic, there appears to have been only a single strand over the top of the shell (from the 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock position if viewed from above). Now to me it makes sense that if a soldier wanted to firmly affix foliage to his helmet, having only a single strand of wire could have the wire and foliage slipping forwards/rearwards in the absence of a reinforcing strand in let's say, the 12 and 6 o'clock position. So that was curious but also could explain why the wire was not retained, perhaps it was too much of a pain in the @ss for the soldier so he removed the wire after only a few weeks or a month of fumbling with foliage. In any case, if the helmet was captured after only a short time of being camo'd, the lack of wear is therefore explained. Of course that is only supposition, without a time machine, who can tell for sure?
In summary, this looks to have all the hallmarks of a genuine camo M42. Any question regarding the shadow and/or wear of the wire will have to be something the owner is content to live with.
Would I buy it? The answer is yes (if I had the money, the price was right and I was looking for a camo M42) but as I'm not looking, or employed, or even have room to display another helmet, I'm happy to recommend this helmet to whoever is wishing to cross Steve's palm with silver for it.
I'll stick with my initial opinion. I never did like the "Normandy camo" types. Are there any period photos of this paint style in use? People are, frankly, getting Far too good at aging and contriving. This one may or may not be, but it's still nothing that I would want. I never saw "Normandy" back in the late 50's and early 60's and never did until 2 decades later. Then it was everywhere. Bottom line...it's pretty...it's cool....but,no thanks.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Only silver? .......
Nice analysis Glenn, good to know a genuine 3 colour cammo resides down under. ......for a while at least.
" I'm putting off procrastination until next week "
Could be a good handful of silver!Only silver? .......
Like I say, it was nice, almost too nice but I have to put such initial observations aside in place of practical points and I couldn't find any real faults apart from an uneasiness over the wire ghost but that isn't enough to condemn the helmet IMO.
Thanks for the in hand analysis Glenn, most appreciated but from my point of view the value/cost of these cammo's would require 100% absolute confidence in it being period paintwork. The wire removal would always give me major concerns, the biggest worry being that it was the wrong gage used in say the 60's and taken off when collectors knew better at a later date to be able to sell it on. That's still 50+ years of "genuine" wear to the helmets surface! All that said, as we know, our opinions are just that "opinions", and yours is just as valid as mine. Leon.
A certain gauge of wire used on German helmets? Surely not!
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