M35 et66 lot#4739 dd kriegsmarine

[PaddyD00]

Hi Guys. I’ve had this one for a bit but never posted. Here is a salty Dark Green DD Kriegsmarine M35 helmet. I was unsure about this one when it appeared for sale. It’s is well worn out and rusted in areas. But after awhile .... I couldn’t deny the charm of this one with its museum-y “artifact of war” feel. I collect KM helmets but I have never owned a DD before and may never again. I think after speaking w friends...This was probably a lightly used / good shape KM that was poorly stored in the attic for 60 years as opposed to battle wear.

This one has a nice green original paint job (darkened to a hunter green over time) .. many KMs I see (and own) have lost most of the paint and have a brown patina (a unique look in itself) all over so it’s nice to see that a lot of the orig paint was retained despite the rust. It has a party shield underneath the ET KM decal as seen in Ken N's book on page 361 (not the same helmet, thanks for the tip Andrea as I no longer own mine) making it a possible candidate for an SS Helmet in its previous life. This lot number is home to 2x DD SS helmets. As well as the preceding and following lots are. There are no runes to be seen under the Tricolor. Maybe scraped off or never there. Its a nice feature of this helmets history.

Possible explanations for this setup is ...
1) a depot / field decal application repurposing the SS helm for a new branch. Previously these KM decals were not regularly known to be available in the field that often .. if at all. I’ve seen a couple examples.
2) this was re-decalled at the factory to fulfill a KM helmet order .
3) someone at factory messed up and was covering their tracks ?

Or....

4) It was a helmet of the “SS...S” which stands for the “Schutzstaffel of the Sea” a branch previously unknown that I just discovered

Liner is somewhat dry and cracked. Chinstraps are snipped. Pins are flat as a board w no secondary bends with all original washers. The decals survived time extremely well which was the original draw. Original tie string. I just love German helmets so much. I really do. I hope you like this one too.

This was my early Christmas present helmet to myself.... well... maybe there’s still time for one more (wink)

Thanks for looking!

Z

[Schwerpunkt]

You know I like it very much Zach , a very tough helmet to find.

[PaddyD00]

You know I like it very much Zach , a very tough helmet to find.

Thanks F. You always know how to kick me right off the fence ....usually on the "buy it" side of the fence. I have bad friends

Z

[Schwerpunkt]

Thanks F. You always know how to kick me right off the fence ....usually on the "buy it" side of the fence. I have bad friends

Z

Yeah well you did well to wait , I would have thought it'd move faster.

[TWS]

Echo my comments over on GHW. Nice pickup. Not an easy to find helmet and despite being a little rusty it still has a neat character to it.

[PaddyD00]

Echo my comments over on GHW. Nice pickup. Not an easy to find helmet and despite being a little rusty it still has a neat character to it.

Thank you Todd! My thoughts exactly .... once I had it in hand... I breathed a sigh of relief. The pics I was seeing previous had me on the fence and was going to look over before I made my decision. But was pleasantly surprised immediately and goes along with his friends. Never say never but I dont think Im the type of collector to drop 8 , 9, 10 K on a helmet. It Would have to be in a box of a car or truck that came with it for me to spend that. Haha. Just the way I feel today of course and respect the collectors who do so no doubt. Thanks again!
Z

[MAP]

Frank: The delay was my fault probably. I wasn't enamored based on the original photos. Looked worse than it is.

But seeing these new ones, I now really like it!

[AndyM35]

Yes, I really like this one Z. Looks much nicer in your photos than the sellers and very nice photos by the way. It’s a very cool helmet

Andy

[PaddyD00]

Yes, I really like this one Z. Looks much nicer in your photos than the sellers and very nice photos by the way. It’s a very cool helmet

Andy

Thanks Andy ....nice to say .... I do like the paint. Usually its not on the pins too which is interesting to look at

[PaddyD00]

Frank: The delay was my fault probably. I wasn't enamored based on the original photos. Looked worse than it is.

But seeing these new ones, I now really like it!

Thanks MAP. All my bros opinions are highly regarded .... they werent that great the pics. You are right. Took a chance