Luxview

Yes Hunt, that's my fear, I won't use force or any damaging tools and definitely take my time. The helmet has kept the secret for so long, I guess it can wait another few weeks before getting uncovered 🙂

What do you suggest? Anything I could do differently or should I better not going any further, considering the loss of yellow when getting the over paint off?

7. Only at the rim area, and this is the strangest finding, it looks like that over the yellow but under the Austrian gray there is a rest of another layer of olive green (it is difficult to see, pictures taken with my mobile but the olive is clearly on the yellow). Maybe there was an re-paint in olive who got mostly removed before applying the gray? But this is 100% speculation. Do you have any suggestion?

5. It looks like there is more yellow than olive green but my assumption is that the over paint just gets easier off the yellow ground 6. The yellow doesn't seem to be vesicant detector paint (thank you Ken for suggesting, I checked the forum for details), at least testing with nail varnish remover didn't change the color

3. The helmet is not completely yellow, there are also areas in olive green

Finally I can share some work in progress - And also some new questions. This is what I've learned so far: 1. The paint doesn't go off as easily as I thought 2. When using duct tape, some of the under paint comes off too (see picture), that's why I stopped again. Is this normal and has to be accepted or is it me not being careful enough?

Thank you very much for the feedback and encouragement to find out what's hidden - Normally I leave my helmets as they are but this one is too much of a temptation for me!! I'll try to get the re-paint off over the weekend with a toothpick or I'll use duct tape, as Pat suggests. Too scared - and too inexperienced - to try any hard measures, last thing I want is to ruin this piece. Fortunately the current surface color looks quite dry and crumbly, so hopefully it will go off smoothly. I'l keep you posted... Karsten

I would like to get your views on this helmet: Reissued to Austrian army and equipped with an Austrian liner but I bought it because it was a fixed bail without any dents. It has the Austrian grayish finish but where the original paint comes through there are yellow / ocher spots visible. Now I ask myself, did I win the lottery and there is a WW2 camouflage pattern hidden under the surface (like the one I saw in the other current thread here: https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/343203-are-people-really-buying-into-this-camo-helmet/) or am I fooling myself? Happy to provide any more pictures in case I am missing something out?

Please let me add that especially with this seller I'd keep my eyes open and be skeptical. I can't judge the authenticity of the helmets offered but since a few month this account has very rare helmets on sale on a regular base, always with a surprisingly short and generic descriptions only. As they are mostly Adrian helmets (WW1 Czech Legion etc.), I assume the majority of collectors on this forum won't have his auctions on their radars.

An exception for my would be to carefully undo an unprofessional treatment, like this one: A late WW2 / Korean area MP helmet. It seems (at least to me) that there are still the original MP markings below the over-paint.

I think this is a wide and heterogeneous field: Restoring helmets, completing them, putting them together. I agree to what other and more experienced collectors have said in this thread before, whatever you do with a helmet, it should be documented and shared when selling (as part of the collector code of ethics). Personally, as many others, I wouldn't restore a helmet either. In my view, every piece has a unique service history and the layers of paint, the scratches and dents document this journey. Taking this away destroys the history and authenticity of it. Also, what would be the goal of a restoration: Make it look like day one, absolutely unused condition, bring it back to the stage when it looked best (whatever this means to somebody) or even bring it into a "could have been" condition? I give you one example, fixed bail, very early production. Had a blue rectangle with a yellow "SG" on it, in a later stage repainted (very dark) with an officer's bar added. To make it worse, somebody (a kid?) scratched parts of the "SG" away, why ever. How can you restore this helmet without destroying parts of it?

Unfortunately I don't own the helmet, it was a reference picture only. I have only one single Danish civil defense helmet but this one was produced in Austria by Witwe Ulbrichts (marked U.SCH.67 and with the crowned CF stamp). There is currently a similar Danish helmet offered on Ebay (as Army Nato Helmet) with the same kind of chinstraps and the 5 letter serial number you mention on the rim, but no MP signs (https://www.ebay.de/itm/Army-Nato-Stahlhelm-mit-Innenhelm/133443200703?hash=item1f11d5a6bf:g:WH4AAOSw4yte4xUu).

Proud Kraut, correct, you are right, text only says "camp guard" not "POW camp guard". I added it to give it some context - and I didn't see any other potential meaning - but I should have been more accurate; feedback taken !!

Sorry, forgot to include the link: https://www.ebay.de/itm/WW2-2-WK-Steel-Helmet-Casque-USA-Stahlhelm-M1-Lagerwache-Sehr-Selten/164243204490?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055359.m1431.l2649. Text says "US Steelpot M1 utilized by the Polish POW Camp Guard under american command". Probably needless to mention that I asked the seller about authenticity / provenience without getting a reply...

From all I learned here as a newbie, this one - currently offered on German Ebay - can't be real. But please correct me in case I am overseeing anything?