WWI German Helmet Paint Colour

[peregrinvs]

I carried out my threat to remove the Revell paint and have repainted it in RAL 7009 Grungrau. A problem afterwards was that the paint looked far too shiny, so I attempted to dull it down by gently scrubbing it in circular motions with some fine wire wool. This worked well and as an additional bonus it has given it a slightly weathered look that I rather like.

 

(For colour contrast interest I have included a picture with a replica WWII German M38 helmet painted in RAL 6006 Grauoliv)

 

Now onto the chinstrap, rivets and liner. Any votes on whether I should fit it with the M16 or M17 type liner?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jools mckenna]

I would go for the m16 liner. 

[peregrinvs]

Been meaning to ask...

 

On original helmets, are there variations in the paint on the shells and the paint on the liner suspension pins? I know it occurred on WWII German helmets due to the components being painted by separate suppliers and was wondering if this was true of WWI helmets? 

[Michael Haselgrove]

Hi Peregrinvs,

I have followed your thread with interest and, noticing you haven't received the information you sought above, thought I would reply.  The answer to your question is yes, there are variations in the paint finish/colour at least on some of the pins but not necessarily in all cases.  The reason for the somewhat vague answer is that there were quite a number factories producing helmets and their individual systems may have varied as far as supply/painting of the helmet shells/pins.  In addition, the metal of the pins is different to that of the helmet shell and paint on the surfaces of each may have aged/adhered differently causing a change in colour/tone that was perhaps not there originally.  Sometimes the paint appears not to have adhered to the pin head at all.

Taking into account the above, below you will see what is a photo of probably the best preserved helmet in my collection.  Interestingly, the difference in paint colour on the ends of the split pins to the interior of that helmet is less obvious. 

I hope the above helps.

Regards,

Michael.   

 

[peregrinvs]

Thanks for that. Interesting picture.

 

In which case I am quite tempted to do the pins in the Revell model paint to give a slight colour contrast.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Interested]

On 23/07/2018 at 04:24, JMB1943 said:

3 weeks in molasses solution it has lost about 4 oz in weight

I'm coming to this thread a bit late, but it is very interesting to see what can be done.

Here's my take on the comment above (based on my O-level chemistry no less!)

Rust is heavier than bare steel (Fe = 26, O = 8, therefore Fe203   = 76 and the oxygen will be 24/76, i.e. will add about one third extra weight at the surface, where the rust is.  Therefore any de-rusting process should result in a lighter weight. 

Some other experts on the Forum might add/clarify/differ, but I think you can be reassured by the weight loss, removing oxygen, not steel, and not doing any damage.

[JMB1943]

So as to not hijack this thread, I have responded at,

 

 

Regards,

JMB

[peregrinvs]

Finally got round to completing it.😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chef_Hendrix]

What a great thread and although I am no expert whatsoever! the finished helmet looks stunning. I just wish I had the skills and patience (and helmet of course!) to achieve what you have done.

 

Gaz

[Jools mckenna]

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, peregrinvs said:

Finally got round to completing it.😊

 

 

 

 

Where did you get the liner?

[peregrinvs]

17 hours ago, Chef_Hendrix said:

What a great thread and although I am no expert whatsoever! the finished helmet looks stunning. I just wish I had the skills and patience (and helmet of course!) to achieve what you have done.

You're very kind. There are various flaws if you look closely, but given what I started with I'm fairly pleased with it. I'm also working on similarly large size 68 WWII M35 helmet, but that's off topic for this forum.

 

17 hours ago, Jools mckenna said:

Where did you get the liner?

From the seller 'czprg' on eBay. There are other sources. E.g. 

 

https://www.pflco.com/german.htm#m16

 

https://www.warhats.com/ww1-german-helmet-parts.html#/

[Jools mckenna]

 

 

1

8 hours ago, peregrinvs said:

From the seller 'czprg' on eBay. There are other sources. E.g. 

 

https://www.pflco.com/german.htm#m16

 

https://www.warhats.com/ww1-german-helmet-parts.html#/

Thanks, I've been looking for a good liner for a while now. I will probably get the Ebay or pflco one.

[trajan]

The last 18 months have been extraordinary busy for me and so I missed this thread (among many others!). What a fantastic project and what an incredible result! Patience and spare space / room needed to complete, I guess, plus some ability at handiwork. I nearly bought a similar shell to Peregrinus' a couple years back but thought I'd never know how to deal with it - and even if I did I wonder if I would ever complete the process. But even if I never take on such a project, this thread shold inspire others to do so - as seems to be the case with JMB and his brodie (post 57) which I must now check on, not the least because I have never heard of this molasses treatment before!

 

Julian

[peregrinvs]

A little postscript...

 

I’ve just acquired a German Ersatz bayonet complete with scabbard that has a lot of its original Feldgrau paint intact. Herewith a comparison shot with my helmet painted in RAL 7009 Grungrau.

 

As you can see there’s a bit of a difference: the original paint is darker and greener. However, this is just one sample and I’m still of the opinion that RAL 7009 is within the range of original colours that existed = I’m not currently planning to repaint it.

 

Out of curiosity I tried to match the paint to my set of modern RAL colour cards. Perhaps unsurprisingly, none are a close match. If you twisted my arm to pick the closest, I’d go for RAL 6003 Olivgrun.