German M42 SD luftwaffe

[Helmcollector]

This helmet I bought on a fleamarket in Bastogne from a Duchman (red flag ? ). Initially he asked 650 euro, but after a lot of discussion I could buy it for 250 euro (second red flag ?) The decall is obvious a bad copy, but the helmet seems to me in such a good condition that I took the chance.... Manufacturer and lotnumber difficult to read. Any feedback greatly appreciated.

[Schwerpunkt]

Yes the decal is a bad copy called the easy fake. The most common LW eagle fake around.
Any money spent on helmets like these (messed with) is better spend on 1 decent 100% untouched helmet.
The leather looks bad on this one as well , can you take a photo from the felt under the leather ?

[Helmcollector]

Thanks for this reply. Yes, i guess you are right concerning giving money to a helmet that is missed up. I would not do this again. Nevertheless i am still interested to know :
- if the rest of the helmet is authentic (hence these extra pictures)
- if it is possible to know what manufacturer made this helmet (perhaps according to the graphics...?)
Thanks in advance !

[Schwerpunkt]

The leather is also a repro leather. I suspect the paint is post war too.
Can't see enough to venture a guess on the shell maker.

Buying blind is a dangerous thing , from fairs , ebay , 2nd hand websites. Best avoid those as 99% there is fake.
If there are deals to be done on such websites the more experienced collectors will have bought everything worthwhile right in front of you. It is a matter of recognising a good helmet and pulling the trigger in a heartbeat.
Best ask first before buying anything even if you go through dealer sites. But it is best in this phase of your collecting days to pay more and look for trustworthy sources.

[Helmcollector]

Thanks a lot. if I learned one thing, then it is : German helmets are a minefield ! Unless you have a very profound knowledge of these items, you should not buy these. Unless you can rely on the professionel knowledge of someone like you. Even then you are not able to hold it in your hands and feel and smell it as you have to rely on pictures which are not allways as clear as you want them to be. I can imagine that there are collectors around here that are beginning to doubt about a purchase of a German helmet when reading about all these fakes, but prefer not to post them for evaluation as they are afraid of a negative verdict. For the moment I will focus on my other collection of non German helmets...but I will keep following these discussions here...and keep learning...but even then : you have to have the opportunity to hold a lot of authentic helmets in your hands before being able to make the right decision, just as you said...

[Schwerpunkt]

Thanks a lot. if I learned one thing, then it is : German helmets are a minefield ! Unless you have a very profound knowledge of these items, you should not buy these. Unless you can rely on the professionel knowledge of someone like you. Even then you are not able to hold it in your hands and feel and smell it as you have to rely on pictures which are not allways as clear as you want them to be. I can imagine that there are collectors around here that are beginning to doubt about a purchase of a German helmet when reading about all these fakes, but prefer not to post them for evaluation as they are afraid of a negative verdict. For the moment I will focus on my other collection of non German helmets...but I will keep following these discussions here...and keep learning...but even then : you have to have the opportunity to hold a lot of authentic helmets in your hands before being able to make the right decision, just as you said...

I know gentlemen that build a collection and build up knowledge purely by asking help on forums. It's just how you get started , with the right help you can't buy a bad helmet.
But also keep in mind that you don't buy decalled combat helmets below a 1000 euros and even that is considered cheap nowadays sadly.

PS I will add this is how I started to get a better collection as well. Since I joined forums around 2004 my knowledge of German WW2 helmets increased exponentially.

[Jc9765]

The shell itself looks original.
The decal is a aged fake like Schwerpunkt said.
Everything else is questionable.
The paint is likely not original nor is the liner.
Not horrible for $250.
Some restored helmets look ghastly, especially the ones from Ukraine on Ebay.
At least this one has a decent look about it.

[Helmcollector]

Thanks..Can you give me some redflags why the liner is not original. I do not have the impression that the legs of the rivets are bent in a way that could not be done in the factory ? I will not ask how you can see the leather is not authentic. I guess that is a question of experience...
PS : I have still one relic, battle damaged SS-helmet I once bought from 'stalingrad front', Russia because I appreciate a helmet that have 'lived'. Should I post it here or in the forum 'relic helmets' ?
I have the impression that the specialist German decalls are concentrated here

[Helmcollector]

Although my collection German helmets ww2 is not what I had in mind, I confort myself that at least it can be a didactic tool how it should not be. Now I am eager to see as many authentic ones as possible...

[Schwerpunkt]

Thanks..Can you give me some redflags why the liner is not original. I do not have the impression that the legs of the rivets are bent in a way that could not be done in the factory ? I will not ask how you can see the leather is not authentic. I guess that is a question of experience...
PS : I have still one relic, battle damaged SS-helmet I once bought from 'stalingrad front', Russia because I appreciate a helmet that have 'lived'. Should I post it here or in the forum 'relic helmets' ?
I have the impression that the specialist German decalls are concentrated here

Well if the helmet paint is not the factory paint the liner steel band is also fake , it is rare to see someone putting in just a fake leather in an original liner band.
The reason why the leather is repro is because the felt (that strip of soft cloth under the leather) is wrong. It is not real felt. You can see an example of real felt on my website. They can have different colors ranging from brown to grey. M31 helmet liners – German Helmet Vault
Also how the rear seam is stitched is different from original leather. The smell of the leather will also smell different than of real used period WW2 leather.
The rivets in this case are irrelevant and could be repro's too.

Every authentic German helmet has lived , no matter its condition :-) If budget does not allow ground finds can be a good substitution for helmets in better condition but in a lot of cases ground finds are tougher to collect because there are often no shell markings and that makes it impossible to align decal and shell maker. I have seen some very well done SS fakes applied between the rust holes.
A lot of collectors that collect ground finds think they are a safe haven but that is not the case. Also with ground finds you need to look hard to find the collect worthy gems.