Article about: Well, I've decided to dip my toes into fleabay and found something which I liked thelook of, and it is this CKL60 M42 helmet with what should also be original split pins and liner. Though th
Well, I've decided to dip my toes into fleabay and found something which I liked the look of.
And what came out is this CKL60 M42 helmet with what should also be original split pins and liner.
Though the liner does somewhat still leave a lot to be desired, but good luck trying to find an original liner in that size!
Regardless, these are the pictures of the auction which I (much to my own surprise as I bid on it more for fun rather than actually intending to purchase the item in question) won.
Luckily it looks as though someone has already done some work for me by removing a lot of the outside paint just leaving the dome of the helmet in the color it used to be after it was reused probably by the Czechs.
I think the lot number is 5311 or 5711 which should put it in the ND range, so this will be restored into a nice ND mid-late war CKL M42 in a teeny tiny size.
It wasn't expensive to my surprise given the rarity of a helmet in this size.. but maybe people just don't care about small helmets.
Curious to hear what y'all think.
Luis
Looks like a good shell to start with. I like all sizes of lids and lately seem to be buying size 66 however the small sizes are interesting as well and I have a size 60 M17. Perhaps your lid was worn by one of the very brave young German soldiers fighting at the end of the war!?
I only just found this post.
I have one ckl60 in the 5000 range,and I love how the small size changes the whole look of the helmet.
The skirt appears much deeper.
Hope you kept this and I will look forward to seeing any further photos.
Well, got the helmet today, and to my somewhat disappointment it is very much not a 60 size shell, far from it even, it is actually a 66 size shell, which makes me really wonder how big the seller imagined the heads of some kids must be as he said it'd be "small" and me, the idiot that I am believed it, also partly due to the stamping looking more like a 0 than a 6, but anyway, here we are, stuck in the middle of it.
Immediately went to removing more of the paint after taking out the liner which sadly is in atrocious condition, well the leather is, the band isn't rusty or damaged at all and marked with RBNr. and 1944, as I got it one leather tongue already broke off, and I managed to break another, it is very shrunken, hard and brittle, so it breaks very easily.
On the inside it is marked with a RBNr. and 8-44.
So that already told me it was a pretty late war helmet.
The split pins are all marked MSS44 by the way.
Then I went to removing the post war paint in the dome and whilst scrubbing with a wire brush and putting paint thinner in the shell so the post war paint would come off easier I got very confused.
And then my phone died ( I did it in the dark outside and only had my phone flashlight :/ )
But what I saw in those few seconds really surprised me as there was NO paint left in the dome, there was some slate grey still on the outside of the shell, the split pins and some on the inside skirt, but none at all in the dome.
It was a dome stamp.
When I came back, my phone charged to all of 5% I looked again and took a picture, it indeed was a dome stamp.
NOW, if you're still reading, my question since I've heard some rumors but can't prove them.
Is this one of the helmets where they saved on paint and maybe left the dome unpainted but still put a dome stamp in it resulting in only that being left?
Now what I had heard before is that some helmets only left the factory (very late in the war) with a phosphate coating and no paint, but I have yet to have seen one, but if any of you have one, please show.
That's it for now, will post more pictures once I'm done with removing the paint, still have yet to decide if I want to repaint the outside and the inside skirt or not...
I think I just need to get a night sleep over it to make sure
Luis
Take a look at "Small size late war M42 helmet" posted by Kradman.(Sorry I don't know how to link!)
You could perhaps purchase the Brian Ice Ebook on Thale late war helmets,it was not expensive and shows Chromate versions as well as other fascinating variations.
Quite a find too with the dome stamp. I hadn’t heard about domes being unpainted before but it does make sense. Not sure how widespread the practice would have been but as you know at the end of the war times were desperate. I’m sure someone will know.
To link all you need to do is to hold your finger over the URL and options should appear. One should be “Copy”. Then in your post, hold your finger down again and “Paste”will appear as an option. Just tap on it and it will paste the link.
CKL60 M42 restoration
.
as he said it'd be "small" and me, the idiot that I am believed it, also partly due to the stamping looking more like a 0 than a 6, but anyway, here we are, stuck in the middle of it.
Bookmarks