M38 FALLSCHIRMJÄGERHELM rescue project

[Jan]

A little more cleaning work done. The white layer seems only to be on areas were parts of the original helmet surface remains.

Best, Jan

[PotatoDigger]

Looks really nice, good work! Keep it up.
Luis

[The Devil's Bank]

Good to see the helmet taking shape..

I really enjoy these projects - fascinating

[Jan]

The helmet after a light blasting with nutshell granules. It would have been possible to get more of the original surface visible but we decided to go with a lighter treatment to how some of the colourful original patina that had accumulated on the surface over the years the helmet spent in the ground.

One of the liner rivets inside the helmet looks quite good too after blasting.

Best, Jan

[PotatoDigger]

Just keeps on looking better and better
Luis

[Jan]

A little more progress during last week. The holes in the helmet have been covered with patches of "washi" paper fixed to the helmet with Paraloid B-72. The paper patches were then painted with acrylig paint to the same colour as the exterior of the helmet. The patches can be easily removed without causing any daage to the helmet.

The helmet has been covered with a layer of Microcrystalline wax to prevent further rust from attacking the surface. The wax was diluted with Ligroin and applied to the surface with a thin brush.



Best, Jan

[Jerry B]

I appreciate the clinical and technical aspects of the process so far.

I would ask, as the title says restoration & refurbishment, as to what your exact goals are with this.

Are intending to conserve and preserve it, halting further decay etc or are you intending to paint it up etc?

[Jan]

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for the question. My goals are conservation and preservation only! This is also an exercise in how expensive and time consuming conserving scientific conflict archaeology finds is. The work hours with this single helmet is now up to 66 (plus the passive time the helmet has spent in desalination etc.).

I think this is about how far I would go with this one item. Just some small things left to do.

Best, Jan

[Jerry B]

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for the question. My goals are conservation and preservation only! This is also an exercise in how expensive and time consuming conserving scientific conflict archaeology finds is. The work hours with this single helmet is now up to 66 (plus the passive time the helmet has spent in desalination etc.).

I think this is about how far I would go with this one item. Just some small things left to do.

Best, Jan

Thank you Jan for the answer. As an Archaeologist myself, preservation is all we really should do with the items we dig up, though at the same time people can do what they want with their property.

You might have seen my thread on post WWII British para helmets , one of which (a dug up MKIIHSAT from the 1970's) I have given some basic first aid to as a probably stopgap measure to stabilize it.

I shall see how it progresses and obviously it was not as far gone as your M38, so it should be OK as is.

[PotatoDigger]

Great work, I always like to check on the progress of this restoration, I still need to get myself some wax to conserve some of my finds, I just keep forgetting it , might consider conserving what is left of a battle damaged Notek blacklight I found 2 years ago, so far its just sitting in my collection, I think I will follow the steps from this M38 restoration as I personally really like the way it looks right now .
Luis