Micro cracking painted m1-helmet

[Samhelm59]

Hello,

 

I am a young helmet collector from the Netherlands and, at the moment, not very experienced yet when it comes to splitting the real thing from the really well made fakes.

 

About two months ago I came across the phenomenon 'micro racking' that could be used to authenticate a painted m1 lid. I would like to be able to use this method the next time I am going to look at a painted helmet, so I have some questions regarding this subject:

 

1. where do you have to look for when checking a helmet for micro cracking?

2. What kind of microscope is required to detect this?

3 and perhaps the most important question: is this way of authenticating decisive? Or have people been able to replicate it?

 

Thank you very much for the input!

[trenchfoot]

1) when the helmet has any painted insignia, put the paint under 20x or 30x magnification and if you see small cracks in the paint, it is most likely real

2) a 20x or 30x loupe or a hand held magnifier

3) This is the one of the most accurate ways to tell if a helmets paint is fake or not. Fakers can't easily replicate this

[Gator]

Great information.

 

Thanks

[Bugme]

Here's a link to a pinned thread on this entire subject of micro-cracking. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/102952-ok-i-have-the-helmet-in-hand-but-still-cant-tell-using-magnification/

[Sgt. BARney]

Wow, great thread. I had not heard about this before - I'll be getting one soon!

[jkash23686]

Loupes are your friend when you start wanting to add painted lids that are usually higher dollar to your collection.

[Samhelm59]

Thanks guys for the input, really helped a lot!

[Samhelm59]

Loupes are your friend when you start wanting to add painted lids that are usually higher dollar to your collection.

Yea that was the main reason I asked this question. I want to start adding some rarer pieces to my collection, and I think this will give me some peace of mind when deciding if I want to purchase a certain lid.

[ccmax]

Micro cracking usually takes place in spots where paint was applied to thickly. Paints have a thickening paste, and even today, the cracking effect may be achieved over the course of the fake aging process provided the faker knows how to apply the paint aiming for this result - this correctly resembles the micro-cracking seen on originals and has nothing to do with crackle type paints.

Micro cracking is still one of the things to look for when judging authenticity, but this effect, alone, does not guarantee you've found a winner.

[Bluehawk]

Weighing in a little bit...

 

Craquelure (cracking) is the result of paint shrinkage.

 

Paint consists of two elements:

- Pigment (The color, usually made with some sort of natural or synthetic powder)

- Solvent (The liquid portion, the material which makes the pigment hold together in solution)

 

Other factors:

- Environmental conditions (Heat, cold, relative humidity, pests)

- Support (The structure paint is applied onto and the type of primer present)

- Thickness/thinness of paint film

- Certain colors tend to crack more than others... e.g. black often cracks a lot, red takes a long time to dry, etc etc etc.

- Polymer-based paints tend to shrink less.

 

Slight changes in amounts of pigment, solvent, environment, support and/or primer will always result in zero to a lot of craquelure... even using the same paint on similar supports under identical environmental circumstances.

[Bugme]

I have to agree with ccmax and Bluehawk here, micro-cracking is reproduceable BUT... with a little experience and comparables, they are quite easily distinguished from real age cracking.

[Bluehawk]

I have to agree with ccmax and Bluehawk here, micro-cracking is reproduceable BUT... with a little experience and comparables, they are quite easily distinguished from real age cracking.

Quite so.

 

By some conservators this is termed "back tracing" and has long been a major facet of empirically dating/authenticating originals vs forgeries.

[jkash23686]

I have to agree with ccmax and Bluehawk here, micro-cracking is reproduceable BUT... with a little experience and comparables, they are quite easily distinguished from real age cracking.

 

Yup, the actual cracking which occurs with oil paints and understanding how oil paint actually dries is distinct to me, compared to someone trying to fake it. Like most things its one of many things to look for when trying to figure out if something is real. I don't think there is ONE thing thats the end all be all trying to tell real from fake, but a combination of several different things.