My M16 Camo Stahlhelm.

[AndyM35]

I’ve looked at this helmet for literally hours now and I feel like I’m am trying to find reasons to justify it as being a period camo but unfortunately I can’t. Others may comment that not all Imperial German helmets will have scratches and marks etc and that may be the case but they will have patina which I don’t see in this example. And where there are scratches there is no patina showing through. Below are some images of a few period camos etc that I consider to have the patina that I would like to see in a helmet if I was spending big dollars on it. Fakers can do all sorts of things to age a helmet these days but 100 year old patina is still thankfully hard to create convincingly.

Andrew

[MAP]

For me, this is the type of camo that just requires an in hand inspection, a very strong magnifying glass and good eyes to look very closely at the nooks and crannies.

From what I see from the photos (and yes, they are not great despite our OP's best efforts) I'm probably the odd man out here. I am leaning towards the camo being good (not commenting on the liner)

That said, I'm not positive and thus would pass if I saw this on a dealers site for sale. (I hate the hassle of potentially having to return an items, even with a inspection gty)

[HoundsTooth]

I've held back on commenting on this helmet until now, but for what it is worth i am not convinced by this camo. The big red flag for me is that lack of patina/wear, particularly around the vent holes. On the photos Andrew has posted and on other helmets you see wear in this area as well as other helmets that have been posted in the past.

That said, this is only my opinion based on the pictures i see, so take it as such.

Thanks
Nick

[sysyphus]

Sorry to say but i confirm: this is a complete bogus.
the helmet is a M27 model for Irish army made by Vickers ltd (the liner is from this very helmet) "dressed" up with a post war WW1 german camo.

They have nothing to do with each other in few words...

Andrea

[AndyM35]

Thank you for your comments Andrea.

Shaped Steel, the good thing is that you have an original Vickers helmet which is a very good thing so well done! Personally, I’d be very happy with a Vickers as they do not come up often so I’m very happy for you. I thought the chinstrap posts looked odd but as Andrea has confirmed the oddity was that they were the slightly different Irish chinstrap setup. So, I’ve learned something else to consider - thank you Andrea!

Now, as the shell is not an original Imperial German helmet you may wish to consider restoring to original condition.

There are still good original Imperial German Camos out there to be found and I hope one finds you soon.

All the best,
Andrew

[MAP]

Sorry to say but i confirm: this is a complete bogus.
the helmet is a M27 model for Irish army made by Vickers ltd (the liner is from this very helmet) "dressed" up with a post war WW1 german camo.

They have nothing to do with each other in few words...

Andrea

Doh!!!!! And here I have one sitting right in front of me on my shelf. So caught up in the paint that we didn't take a step back and look at the shell! LoL

[AndyM35]

You have a Vickers MAP!?

[sysyphus]

Thank you for your comments Andrea.

Shaped Steel, the good thing is that you have an original Vickers helmet which is a very good thing so well done! Personally, I’d be very happy with a Vickers as they do not come up often so I’m very happy for you. I thought the chinstrap posts looked odd but as Andrea has confirmed the oddity was that they were the slightly different Irish chinstrap setup. So, I’ve learned something else to consider - thank you Andrea!

Now, as the shell is not an original Imperial German helmet you may wish to consider restoring to original condition.

There are still good original Imperial German Camos out there to be found and I hope one finds you soon.

All the best,
Andrew

Andrew
you're very welcome.

Glad to have helped albeit the result of my answer isn't 100% good for the poster.
It is a scarce helmet model...; even if compromised and pretty molested, a restoration could be considered but has to be made by someone that knows how to do it. not an easy work to be honest.

A

[sysyphus]

Doh!!!!! And here I have one sitting right in front of me on my shelf. So caught up in the paint that we didn't take a step back and look at the shell! LoL

Michael
Liner was the first thing completely off. nothing to do with germans M16; pads might be similar (not the stitch in the middle of the pad if you observe well) but the leather band is totally different.
Second: the position of the strap rivets; this was mentioned by the OP in the intro, but the fact is that is not austrian neither german.

a very interesting topic in any case

A

[MAP]

Michael
Liner was the first thing completely off. nothing to do with germans M16; pads might be similar (not the stitch in the middle of the pad if you observe well) but the leather band is totally different.
Second: the position of the strap rivets; this was mentioned by the OP in the intro, but the fact is that is not austrian neither german.

a very interesting topic in any case

A

We just get tunnel vision sometimes. I never looked at the liner as I noted nor the shell.....straight to the discussion on the paint

These Vickers are desirable in their own right. Silly to add a fake camo to an original example. There are so few of them left.