mattsmilitary Posted January 30, 2015 Share #1 Posted January 30, 2015 I just got this helmet. I am soooo ecstatic about it!!!!! Comment and opinions welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted January 30, 2015 Close up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WW2JAKE Posted January 30, 2015 Share #3 Posted January 30, 2015 looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted January 30, 2015 Inside and Stamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted January 30, 2015 looks great! Thank you Jake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted January 30, 2015 Share #6 Posted January 30, 2015 Amazing helmet! Congrats Matt! -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doinworkinvans Posted January 30, 2015 Share #7 Posted January 30, 2015 dang dude those WW1 lids are awesome looking - makes even the most anti-helmet guy feel a little jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted January 30, 2015 Dude u need a wwi helmet in your military collection if u don t have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichiesRelics Posted January 30, 2015 Share #9 Posted January 30, 2015 Nice helmet, great find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted January 30, 2015 Share #10 Posted January 30, 2015 Brodie pattern. Can you get a clearer photo of the emblem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Queen Posted January 31, 2015 Share #11 Posted January 31, 2015 2nd Bn. 5th Marines. I am not in love with it from what I see. Need to see clear shots of the painting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted January 31, 2015 Share #12 Posted January 31, 2015 I'm NOT feeling the love. (i.e. I don't like it either.) 1) Why is the area of corrosion in the yellow field darker than any of the corrosion on the rest of the helmet? 2) Why is there a significant amount of corrosion / damage in the yellow field that isn't present on the green areas on either side? That is to say why is all the damage concentrated on the insignia and not equally distributed over the rest of the helmet? 3) The exposed yellow paint doesn't look like it has experienced nearly 100 years of oxidization. To me, the different color of corrosion indicates some sanding to expose metal and then chemical induced rusting to artificially age it. It just doesn't pass my sniff test. I wouldn't own it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share #13 Posted January 31, 2015 Thanks for your input. My stomach was sinking reading your thoughts. Was hoping this one was real. You cant win on EVERY item. Ive learned that already. Ill try and get some better pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Camouflage Pattern I Posted January 31, 2015 Share #14 Posted January 31, 2015 I'm not very knowledgeable but I was thinking, is that corrosion or the green paint showing through? I know lots of damage to the painted on insignia is a sign of a fake, but if it doesn't got through to the metal like scratches do it could just be the insignia is inferior paint, the finish would be applied in the factory and heat cured, while the insignia might be whatever paint they could get air-dryed on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Much WW1 Militaria Posted February 1, 2015 Share #15 Posted February 1, 2015 I agree about the corrosion patterns. Doesn't look consistent, looks kind of flat-ish in spots, like it's been sanded and then aged. There was a guy in the Midwest several years ago that was churning these out using period paint. I've done this for 50+ years and painted WW1 helmets have become the minefield that TR stuff has. Glad I got mine at flea markets for $5 a piece. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share #16 Posted February 1, 2015 O well. Just a shelf piece I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted February 1, 2015 Share #17 Posted February 1, 2015 How much did you spend on it? -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atb Posted February 1, 2015 Share #18 Posted February 1, 2015 That helmet was shown in 8MM's post #507, 13 Dec 2014 of the WW1 Painted Helmets thread. No comments then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Queen Posted February 1, 2015 Share #19 Posted February 1, 2015 Matt, For what its worth, don't feel bad. As John said, WW1 painted helmets (especially 2nd Division/USMC) are one of the most dangerous (and in my opinion misunderstood) areas of US militaria collecting (Viet Nam made patches are probably much better understood than these are). Others here will disagree with me but I would bet that half of these helmets in collections today were painted within that last 35 years. I have seen helmets in very advanced collections which I would not touch with a barge pole. I would advise against investing in these unless it was something you just stumbled onto for next to nothing or you felt very, very confident in the seller and the provenance of the piece. My 2 cents (and probably not worth that much...) EQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Much WW1 Militaria Posted February 2, 2015 Share #20 Posted February 2, 2015 Eric hit the nail on the head with the word "investment". Given the amount of money that some of these items sell for, the only investment should be disposable cash that you won't miss. In a way, this is a lot like going to a casino, sometimes you win, most of the time the house wins. Especially with WW1 USMC items. Figure you have, given the small size of the USMC in 1917-18, a small number of surviving artifacts of all types. Combine that with the large number of aggressive USMC collectors = fakes galore. Back when these helmets could be had at flea markets for $5 (and I remember when WW1/2 stuff was considered surplus junk), there was no fear of buying a fake. Now, yes, and the fakers get better all the time. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I don't understand shelling out hundreds or thousands (airborne helmets) for what amounts to stamped steel, leather, and webbing. I don't care who wore it, it was still just a tool when you get right down to it. My father was with the 82nd ABN from North Africa to Germany. We had his WW2 jump helmet that we played with as kids. Eventually, mom threw it out. What would I pay for it today? About $10 or so. We do this to ourselves at the end of the day by aggressively overpaying for what were tools. Maybe I look at it being retired Army, but I considered my stuff from Vietnam to be junk, which when uniforms changed or it wore out, was thrown out. We tend to forget that the stuff represents history, but PEOPLE are the one's who make it! My nickel-ninety eight, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A54 Posted February 2, 2015 Share #21 Posted February 2, 2015 For reference, here is my 2/5 helmet. Note the detail and size of the insignia as well as the inclusion of the EGA. I have seen others witht he same detail / hand. A big difference between this and the subject helmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeSpirit76 Posted February 14, 2015 Share #22 Posted February 14, 2015 What about black lighting the paint, would that help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now