German Helmet - original paint?

**rd416** · 01-31-2022, 01:46 AM

Hi all,

I had posted this helmet in the relics group a while back with a different question but wanted to make a new forum as I turn my attention towards the refurb process. The paint is all post war done and I am stripping it all off (hoping to find something underneath). I started to do so and found a white layer of paint underneath. Looking for help to figure out whether I should keep going or whether that paint would have been original and i should leave it?

Pictures 1 and 2 are before and Pictures 3 and 4 are what they look like after a little scrubbing and paint stripper.

Thanks

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 01-31-2022 01:46 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**rd416** · 01-31-2022, 05:18 AM

A quick update

**rd416** · 01-31-2022, 05:24 AM

An update

**MAP** · 01-31-2022, 05:25 AM

Sorry. We need more, clear and better photos. Not much can been derived from these two photos.

My gut is telling me the white has nothing to do with WW1.

Edit: Ahh. I see you added one more just as I posted. Still unsure, but doubt it is WW1 related.

**TheGoon** · 01-31-2022, 05:30 AM

I possibly see some green showing through

**rd416** · 01-31-2022, 05:52 AM

by MAP

Sorry. We need more, clear and better photos. Not much can been derived from these two photos.

My gut is telling me the white has nothing to do with WW1.

Edit: Ahh. I see you added one more just as I posted. Still unsure, but doubt it is WW1 related.

The entire helmet seems to have a white layer. Perhaps just a primer when it was painted black? I've read that in some instances soldiers did white wash their helmets for camo during WW1 but also that a ton of M16s went to Finland and were used during the winter war. Any possibility that this could have been done then?

**rd416** · 01-31-2022, 05:55 AM

Another update. Been able to take a lot of the gold paint on the inside of the helmet off. There appears to be a layer of black there. I'm assuming this would have been consistent with the black on the rest of the helmet and post-war done?

**juanjo67** · 06-06-2022, 01:12 PM

First remove all the black. Looking at the photo of the interior, it seems that there is some green paint behind the white. You see removing layer by layer. Try inside to see if the green one appears, which gives me the feeling that it exists. Greetings and good luck