M42 CKL Single Decal?
Hey ya'll
I received this helmet from a friend of mine a few months back. He purchased it several years ago as authentic and somewhere along the line was told it was bad. I've tried to do my due diligence with Hicks, Niewiarowicz and Baers books, and more importantly the wealth of knowledge from all of you here. I have decided to finally bite the bullet and make a post.
The decal looks like the correct ET post 1940, but the hits being in all the distinguishing places raises a major red flag. The breaks in the shield look rounded and the left rune appears peaked. I am new to analyzing decals so I could totally be wrong.
I purchased a microscope and looked for any tell-tale indications of a modern print job (dots or rectangles) and saw none. I did notice that the left side of the decal has a substantial separation along the black outline of the shield and the white body itself. Possibly a shift of the decal in application?
The lot number & size (CKL 64 3154) match a known SS on the database and the wear of the decal seems uniform and correct with that on the helmet overall. There is no trace of any other paint and to the best of my knowledge the liner has not been removed. The liner band is marked 1943 and the liner itself is very brittle. The chinstrap is unmarked.
I'm hoping to hear what you all think! Personally I believe it to be good but I would love to hear from the experts.
Thanks in advance!
-KG
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