viking73 Posted December 30, 2015 Share #1 Posted December 30, 2015 Hi Guys, I know I haven't quite finished up my gold APH-5 and VA-164 APH-6 helmet refurbs yet but, I came across this woodland camo tape HGU-26 and I just couldn't pass it up for the price (less than $75). Seems that at some point, someone removed all the military comm gear and replaced it with a civilian setup complete with a Roanwell boom mic and earphones. The mask receivers were also removed as well. The worse thing is the hole for the boom mic mount. I don't think I can do much about that but I'll check it out... I have already purchased the mask receivers and a few other bits. Still need a few things but this should be a pretty easy restoration. I will repaint the mask receivers black when I get them. I may also paint the two visor knobs black as well although I do see that they were left white sometimes on these camo helmets. I assume they were white while in military use so I may leave them. The interior of the helmet has some strange foam pieces, don't think it's military... Here are some photos. -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted December 30, 2015 Here are a couple of side shots: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted December 30, 2015 And finally, a shot of the interior and also a few of the bit I have on the way to me for this helmet. Thanks for looking, questions and comments always welcome and appreciated! -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoastaero Posted December 30, 2015 Share #4 Posted December 30, 2015 Nice project helmet! Often the straps and visor tracks were dyed green using Rit liquid dye. Sometimes they used a black magic marker on the mask receivers and visor tracks. Since there is a thick rubber edge roll on the helmet, the liner was probably a black leather covered two piece form fit type. The visors have a nose cut out for the MBU-5/P oxygen mask instead of the later MBU-12/P nose cut out. I do not see any additional snaps on the sides of the helmet shell. The snaps would be for the nuclear flash protective goggles used with the B-52, C-130, etc. The helmet ear cup cords could be dyed green also or cut off. The ear seals for the ear cups would be gray (possibly black later on) without a bump on the bottom. H-143/AIC earphones with black or silver fronts could be used along with black foam with a small circular cut out on the front (no black cloth). The mask receivers could be painted olive drab or black also. The visor housing is the later HGU-26/P / PRK-37/P type with the metal reinforcements on the sides. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted December 31, 2015 Share #5 Posted December 31, 2015 Nice score Derek....your helmet collection is growing...should look good when done...dunno why but I always like the helmets with the draw strings on the earcups...maybe the era...maybe cause of the Phantom drivers still used them at Ramstein...which is most likely the case.... I like it a lot...still looking for the 55P for you too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted December 31, 2015 Thanks for the info northcoastaero. Helpful as always. Yes, the collection sure is growing John! So fast that I need to figure out how to add some more room to display them all in my "war room"! I do appreciate you keeping me in mind on that -55/P sir. I've already removed the civilian comm gear on this one. I think I'll remove the visor and clean it up this weekend. I will try and carefully re-glue the edges of the camo tape that are coming up on it. I'll probably remove the visor sliders too, I think I'm going to paint them black along with the bayonet receivers (when I get them in the mail next week). Also kicking around ideas on covering up the boom mic mount hole... I just need to track down a pair of H-143/AIC earphones and gray ear cup seals and I think I'll be all set for parts. I found a nice, complete early 80s MBU-5/P mask to go with this setup that I'm waiting on as well. More later... -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoastaero Posted January 1, 2016 Share #7 Posted January 1, 2016 Try flighthelmet.com and aviationhelmets.com for the earphones and ear seals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 1, 2016 Share #8 Posted January 1, 2016 Hey Derek, Yep dig the idea of covering up the mic mount....will look awesome with the 5P...and a nice BUFF silhouette on the back side.. ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niki Posted January 3, 2016 Share #9 Posted January 3, 2016 Very good score Derek for that price . Wen finished post a picture please . And buy a gift for your wife with every helmet that coming after this helmet maybe you get away with it like i do☺️. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share #10 Posted January 3, 2016 Very good score Derek for that price . Wen finished post a picture please . And buy a gift for your wife with every helmet that coming after this helmet maybe you get away with it like i do☺️. Thanks Niki, I will post some photos later today as I know how I'm going to close up the boom mic hole. No worries about the wife. We just got home from an overnight trip. Had a nice dinner and saw a play she's been wanting to see. She also shopped until she dropped so I should be in the clear for the time being hahahaha! I didn't feel one bit bad when my MBU-5/P mask for this helmet was waiting for me on my doorstep when we got home today -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niki Posted January 3, 2016 Share #11 Posted January 3, 2016 NICE Derek you thought it through with your wife , good tips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share #12 Posted January 5, 2016 Hi, I have a few updates to share on this helmet restoration. I have the boom mic hole covered up. What I did was to first put a piece of clear packing tape to the outside of the helmet covering the hole. Then I mixed up some 5 minute epoxy and filled the hold from the inside. When the epoxy was dry, I removed the tape and it was time to get to work. It's not perfect by any means but I think it came out okay. The comm cord and metal hook will help hide it anyway I think. Here are some photos. -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share #13 Posted January 5, 2016 I happened to have a woodland camo visor cover from an HGU-39/P helmet I bought for parts a year or two ago. I simply removed a piece of the tape from it and glued it to my HGU-26/P. Again, it's not perfect but it looks much better than a hole in there. Attached is a photo of the "donor" visor and also a shot with the comm cord and hook in place and they arrived in today's mail -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share #14 Posted January 5, 2016 Also today, I received the used set of bayonet receivers. I sanded, cleaned, and de-greased them to prep for the painting. I also have the visor sliders ready for paint as well. Attached are some before shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share #15 Posted January 5, 2016 And how everything looks now after the black paint. -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 5, 2016 Share #16 Posted January 5, 2016 nice repair on the boom mic hole... looks good Derek... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share #17 Posted January 5, 2016 That's about it for today. My earcups and string arrived today as well. Tomorrow, I'm getting a box of dark green Rit liquid dye from Amazon (thanks for the tip northcoastaero). Then I will try my hand at dying the earcup strings dark green. I can just see my wife's face now as I'm heating it up on the stove hahahaha More later... -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share #18 Posted January 9, 2016 Happy Friday to all... I've got some updates to post on this one. I have the visor slides and mask receivers in place now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share #19 Posted January 9, 2016 Here is the nice MBU-5/P mask that I will marry up with the helmet. Looks to have a 1982 cure date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share #20 Posted January 9, 2016 And finally, here is a shot of the interior components. I just need to buy a pair of gray earcup seals to complete it. But before I can put it all together, I have to dye the earcup strings. I was going to try and do it today while my wife was at work so I could avoid "that look" but I didn't get around to it... Wish me luck with the dye, more later. -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlegto Posted January 10, 2016 Share #21 Posted January 10, 2016 Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niki Posted January 11, 2016 Share #22 Posted January 11, 2016 Indeed nice job with the helmet Derek !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share #23 Posted January 22, 2016 Good morning. Well I'm calling this one done. I dyed the earcup strings last week and that worked without a hitch. They are dark green but look almost black. I bought a pair of NOS gray ear seals last week. The package was dated 6/78 and I don't know if they had shrunk over the years, but they were a real b*tch to get onto the earcups let me tell you! Here's some photos of the completed interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share #24 Posted January 22, 2016 Here's a few more shots on it's mannequin head: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking73 Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share #25 Posted January 22, 2016 And done! This was a fun one to restore. Guess I need to look another project now Thanks for looking, -Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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