WW2 British helmet

[Wolfpack 71]

I bought this British helmet a while ago, it had been painted NATO green, I thought I would try and do so research to find the correct 

colour and ended up with Service Brown" - BS 381C. 

Any advice on the colour, would be great.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Wolfpack 71
Added information

[DAK D]

Hi @Wolfpack 71,

For a restoration the paint looks pretty good, but to help you further more information is required. Can you find any manufacturers stamping and date on the shell and liner?

If the helmet is from 1940 and later then it is a bit shiny, but still okay for display and based on your single photo the chinstrap is not an early one and the liner screw looks like a later version?

How many coats of paint did you use, as it might need some more before you can dull it down?

I want an Iron Cross second class too @Lenny ??

D

 

[Wolfpack 71]

Hi

DAK D

the shell is stamped 41 

linner is stamped 39

I only gave it one coat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wolfpack 71]

Hi

Lenny

I was checking out how things work on MCN

I have not posted before, sorry about the award thing

[Bil4338]

Just my opinion, but why did you feel the need to repaint the helmet? The original colour looks period WW2, lots of patina/wear etc which is the history of the item, all you've done is erase that history. 

 

[DAK D]

13 hours ago, Bil4338 said:

Just my opinion, but why did you feel the need to repaint the helmet? The original colour looks period WW2, lots of patina/wear etc which is the history of the item, all you've done is erase that history. 

 

Hi @Bil4338,

I should have looked at the posted photo more carefully, as I would have noticed the colour does indeed appear to be done in a typical British WW2 green finish and the paint could have been buffed at any point in time.

D

[Wolfpack 71]

Normally I don't agree with repainting any war related items.

But  I think the picture makes the colour look  better than it actually was.

 

Edited May 28, 2016 by Wolfpack 71

[Bil4338]

You're not getting my point though, painting over an original finish is tantamount to sacrilege in helmet/militaria collecting circles.its up to you, your property and all that, but as I said already, you've now erased that helmets history by 'modernising' it. 

[Davejb]

Depending on what type of paint you,ve used, you may be able to remove it carefully, if it was water based, some X-20A thinner will remove it without harming the original colour, anything else will be much harder, and theres a risk of damage to the original coating

[Wolfpack 71]

Thanks  Davejb

I will look into it

[Wolfpack 71]

 Bil4338, what about military vehicle restorers, are you saying they've erased  history, surely they are preserving it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bil4338]

Now that's a bit different.in almost every case, these vehicles have been re-used commercially and altered as well as being repainted.either that or re-used by a foreign force and repainted/ altered.then these vehicles NEED to be stripped down and/or repainted to original specifications.in that instance there's no alternative, you just can't preserve the history, so you need to emulate it.....quite different from ruining something which needn't have been ruined in the first place.

[Wolfpack 71]

my post was for help with the

helmet .

But it's been made into, a different issue.

So I'm leaving it there.

 

 

[Bil4338]

You posted a picture of a helmet before you decided to dick with it....I gave my opinion on it, what did you expect? This is a forum, where collectors give their opinions......