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Aging a repo helmet ?


Screamingeagles101
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Screamingeagles101

I was at a local flea market the other day with my dad and saw a few helmets sitting on a table. Most were beat up Vietnam helmets. I spotted a front seam helmet with original ww2 factory finish. The chinstrap

Are reproduction and so is the webbing in the liner. I bought it for $40, anyway I decided instead of buying vintage ww2 chinstraps and a new liner I would like to age them. Any ideas on how to age chinstraps and the webbing inside the liner ?

Thank you

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It is top-secret.

...and we try not to encourage fake aging since this type of fakery has been the cause of multitudes of collectors being duped into buying something less than original.

 

I have moved this to the reenactors forum, it does not belong in the helmet section.

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Screamingeagles101

I decided I would like to give it to my grandpa. I am 100% sure it is repo. So what can I do to make it look like the chinstraps and liner webbing were actually in combat ?

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Tasken_Lander

I would roll it around in the dirt, throw some pebbles/small rocks at it, rub white charcoal ash over it, leave it in the sun a bit, stuff like that.

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Why? he will remember them as looking like they did 60 years ago. If you are reenacting, then it should look newish.

 

It's like the civil war reenactor who kept beating on his new reproduction rifle and letting it get rusty so "it would look like it was 100 years old."

 

(true story).

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Screamingeagles101

You say the helmet still has a factory finish... so why beat up the liner??

 

To be honest, I'm pretty sure the liner webbing is repo, but just thinking about it now, the shell of the liner has its original paint, is it possible that the liner was unissued and is brand new.

I have posted a pic of it on another forum and the members said the webbing looks repo.

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To be honest, I'm pretty sure the liner webbing is repo, but just thinking about it now, the shell of the liner has its original paint, is it possible that the liner was unissued and is brand new.

I have posted a pic of it on another forum and the members said the webbing looks repo.

 

Why don't you just post it here, it was probably reconditioned for use by a reenactor.

 

RC

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Screamingeagles101

Looks repro to me. My question is why not save up for the real deal which will hold it's value? You'll have a hard time selling this if you need the money one day. Reeanactors usually buy new stuff and let it age with their impression anyway.

 

My 2 cents.

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Screamingeagles101

Looks repro to me. My question is why not save up for the real deal which will hold it's value? You'll have a hard time selling this if you need the money one day. Reeanactors usually buy new stuff and let it age with their impression anyway.

 

My 2 cents.

 

Also looks repo to be because the material is so light, unless the guy took the picture with flash on. Like I said I never held it in my hands to know for sure, for all I know it could be an unissued helmet, but I won't know till Christmas, I will put my pictures up when i hold it in my hands on Christmas day.

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I don't think it's unissued. Among other things the J hook strap looks waayyy to long.

 

 

Both straps look abnormally long to me. I have seen that on repro chinstraps before.

 

As you can see below, ATF sells chinstraps that look very long to me as well, of course it could change when they are sewed onto the helmet, but IMO, it looks like the ones on the helmet shown above. And the ones on the helmet don't look to have been bar tacked, it looks more like hand sewing to me, but that may just be my monitor.

 

b3Tbx.jpg

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