WW2 British Artillery Flash...dont judge me

[Bigorangetiger]

I won this in an auction without knowing the particulars. Best case was that it was a US model and worst case was from Belgium. It was covered with the dark green paint that is typical for post WW2 with bits of white peeking through.

So I was curious about the white and began clearing small segments..which got bigger..and eventually exposed a Royal Artillery symbol on the side.

At this point I kept uncovering more white to see if I could find any warden markings but found none. So yeah..now I have been slowly chipping away at the green and white to uncover the base brown and get it as close as I can to the original service helmet.

For those that will jump on me for being so bold thus far...I get it..it was a gamble but to me each layer uncovered was better than the previous layer so Im ok with my decision. It will turn out to be an uneven brown finish but an uneven original finish Royal Artillery helmet is far better than a banged up plain ole post WW2 green.

[Bigorangetiger]

[Bigorangetiger]

These are the latest. You can see the matte brown undercoat and also see where the original brown was exposed before the white and/or green were applied. There is also a decent linear dent in it to add character.

[tinlid]

Be interesting to see how it turns out.

[Bigorangetiger]

Any suggestions for when i do get the white/green off? I had the thought of using acetone to kinda smear the brown and remove the last of the white bits but that's about all I have come up with at the moment.

[JWills]

I have used nail polish remover pads before and that worked quite well. But I think the key thing is patience and don't rush. And come back to it another time if you get bored/frustrated. Can always take more off, but can't replace it once you've gone too far. Good luck!

[Bigorangetiger]

Unfortunately I can see indentations in the green paint which tells me the original brown was rough when it was painted over. I can tell it will be brown with bare spots in the end but preserving as much brown as possible is my goal.

I have now taken to using a plastic scraper to flake off the softest bits and using pure acetone with qtips as well