Is this an Original M35 Camouflage?

[Adravor]

Hello Forum,

This helmet is coming up at an local auction, and while i at first glance like the outside, the inside, aswell as my lack of knowledge on these helmets, makes me doubt it.
The website claims it may have possibly cleaned with oxalic acid, and while the inside makes me consider that, the outside looks too good to be Oxalic acid cleaned in my Opinion.

What do you think about it? Does it stand a chance to be original? All help and Opinions would be as always greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Adravor

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I cannot vouch for the originality of this one, and I know the consensus of opinion amongst collectors about the inside being painted. But several years ago I had an M42 helmet which was painted inside and out in an Italian campaign colour. The provenance of the helmet was cast-iron, the helmet having been brought back by a Royal Artillery Captain. In the end you have to go with your gut instincts. Not everything is as clear cut as we would like it to be in the collecting world. There are ALWAYS exceptions to the norm.

Cheers,
Steve

[Adravor]

Mhm, i did not notice that its possibly painted inside, to me it looked like the skirt was painted - which i have seen before - but the inside behind the leather is just heavily pitted and rusted, as there the moisture in many cases collecting there. Should have seen that.

[Schwerpunkt]

Good photos needed to make a good judgment. Based on these I would not bother.

[AndyM35]

Adravor, I agree with you that based on these photos, the interior of the dome appears to be rusted more than painted and the skirt looks very worn or scrubbed. This wear does not appear to be commensurate with the wear on the liner in my opinion, leading me to suspect it may have been swapped. Also, the liner band appears to be an early single ply example, so I would almost expect to see thicker rivet heads on the aluminium band as seen on early M31’s. Instead we see flat headed aluminium heads.

Hopefully the seller can provide much better photos.

Andy

[PotatoDigger]

Adravor, I agree with you that based on these photos, the interior of the dome appears to be rusted more than painted and the skirt looks very worn or scrubbed. This wear does not appear to be commensurate with the wear on the liner in my opinion, leading me to suspect it may have been swapped. Also, the liner band appears to be an early single ply example, so I would almost expect to see thicker rivet heads on the aluminium band as seen on early M31’s. Instead we see flat headed aluminium heads.

Hopefully the seller can provide much better photos.

Andy

The liner is a steel band one, and there's a bunch of single band alu liners with alu pins, too.
After all they were manufactured until 1937/38 though it is true that the early alu ones have domed steel pins.

As for the rest of the helmet I agree with the others, dome is indeed pretty rusty compared to the rest of the helmet.
Luis

[AndyM35]

Luis, are you saying it’s a single band or reinforced?Looks single to me. What are you seeing to make you say that (just try g to learn here).

A

[PotatoDigger]

Luis, are you saying it’s a single band or reinforced?Looks single to me. What are you seeing to make you say that (just try g to learn here).

A

It certainly is single band, but to me it looks like a steel band.
The color of it looks like it is zinc plated and also the chinstrap bales appear rusted(although on very early M31 liners those are indeed steel)
But the look of it as a whole looks more like a zinc plated steel liner band.
Alu, even weathered has a different color of gray.
That being said it may lead towards it being a late M35 or a reissue.
Luis

[Adravor]

Thanks for the answers! Its on an auction site, and they said they wont provide any more pictures, so definitly a pass for me. Thanks again for all the hopefull answers!

[HoundsTooth]

I like the look of this helmet - but yes better pics would of been needed. For the camo and the decal and also the pins - i'd want to be sure that the liner had not been out.
I don't think the camo goes inside the helmet, beyond the skirt anyway.
Nick