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WRECKED Militaria - Post your "tragic" pictures!


MWalsh
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So I have thought about doing a thread like this for a while now, I guess more for fun than anything else, but at times out of frustration too.

 

I am sure that all of us as military collectors have come across, painted, damaged, butchered, altered, etc pieces of militaria. Not legit war time or service damaged or altered items, I mean stuff that collectors, dealers, do-gooders, theatrical users, kids, etc have damaged or changed or devalued or whatever.

 

I don't recall having seen a thread like that before, so I figured I would start one with a few recent things that I came across. They were what made me want to do this thread.

 

And by all means, everyone - PILE ON. Feel free to add pics of things you have or have come across. Again - no items damaged or changed from honest service use - just the humped off stuff from after an item's military service is over.

 

And also - if YOU messed something up - feel free to post that too. We understand. We all know you THOUGHT it was the right thing to do. Been there. But it WAS when I was a kid... :) Mostly.

 

Here are my two. For now. The first is what I believe is - well, WAS - once a World War Two armor crew helmet. I guess it still is, its just not what have always understood the original ones to be in terms of color. Could be this one came out of Fort Knox and was used by Army troops who used their tanks to guard the gold reserve deposits??? Could be. But, for now all I can say is.... Huh? and WHY? Now please - if I am missing something here on why this thing is yellow, and supposed to be yellow for some military application, but all means educate, but for now - "See 'em & weep".

 

post-440-0-75286500-1454461087.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Now this little gem started life as a World War One period machine gun ammunition box if memory serves me right. Been a while since I have seen one of these on the loose in the wild at an antique store.

 

And nothing, NOTHING spells "restoration" like a complete sanding, brass polishing, and then a healthy coating of varnish, right! It is clear the dealer knew what they had based on the price tag - and the price - well heck yeah price it nearly a hundo - it looks brand new!

 

post-440-0-54145800-1454461933.jpg

 

 

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Hey Mike,

 

I found a original wwii picture of a military MP on a wwii WLA Harley wearing a white wash tanker helmet with a MP painted on the front.

 

I now know they were painting tanker helmets different colors back then who knows if the yellow was done back then to mean something or painted up to be a football helmet?

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Hey Mike,

 

I found a original wwii picture of a military MP on a wwii WLA Harley wearing a white wash tanker helmet with a MP painted on the front.

 

I now know they were painting tanker helmets different colors back then who knows if the yellow was done back then to mean something or painted up to be a football helmet?

Fair enough Craig, and good point.

 

I will still say WRECKED for now though :) It is such an ugly shade of calf crap yellow that I am not sure it sok,d have been military used... Football maybe though.

 

But point taken.

 

I do actually have a studio photo of a white painted armor used helmet too now that you mention it.

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I have a Tanker helmet with what looks to be a period done red paint job. Not a clue as to why but I had always assumed it had something to do with training.

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Several years ago, I noticed a WW1 German steel helmet sitting outside on the porch of an antique shop.

 

Someone removed the liner, painted it light green and filled it with dirt and plants.

 

I guess you could consider that wrecked.

 

 

Wharf

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My dad had a guy wanting to sell him a WW1 german camo helmet.

 

He bought.But the guy had buffed off half the camo paint.Had a nice liner and chinstrap.The guy explained he was going to make it into "biker helmet" by buffing it clean and then chroming it

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I guess you would have to display the buffed helmet carefully and make sure the cleaned side was never visible :)

 

And isn't that he one you wear around the house these days? :)

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You know, on that armored helmet, since the ear phone pieces and cord are not also painted, I would think that is some sort of instructor / leader helmet.

 

But you are right about that ammo box. There is a whole industry now that removes the paint and polishes up all kinds of wartime optical or navigational devices and then sells them as expensive decorator items.

 

Or the stupid "yard art" clogging flea markets of M1 helmet shells made into turtles or spiders.

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My dad had a guy wanting to sell him a WW1 german camo helmet.

 

He bought.But the guy had buffed off half the camo paint.Had a nice liner and chinstrap.The guy explained he was going to make it into "biker helmet" by buffing it clean and then chroming it

 

I saw that done to a WW2 German Fallschirmjager helmet....The dome was buffed down to bare metal....The guy was converting it into a biker helmet and stopped just above the Luftwaffe decal..... He probably figured he screwed up or somebody caught him in the act......The helmet would be worth about $5K today....A gentleman on the WAF also picked up a purple painted German helmet....He was able to remove the over paint to reveal a nice M35 DD Army helmet underneath....Bodes

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A gentleman on the WAF also picked up a purple painted German helmet....He was able to remove the over paint to reveal a nice M35 DD Army helmet underneath...

 

I remember that one. He picked off all the purple paint with his thumbnail and the result was nothing short of amazing.

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But you are right about that ammo box. There is a whole industry now that removes the paint and polishes up all kinds of wartime optical or navigational devices and then sells them as expensive decorator items.

 

 

In the same vein, there's a young lady at my local flea market who will buy every piece of military canvas that she sees, and a lot of other OD material. One time I saw her pay stupid money for a duffel bag, and found out that she take it all, cuts it up and reuses it for whatever (my guess is some kind of boho chic refinished furniture). I don't have a lot of love for duffel bags in particular, but now I go around and try to buy the named ones before she gets there. I can deal with her cutting up an unmarked piece of canvas, but I have a problem with her taking what might be the last named piece of some World War II GI's estate and using it to create the seating on some ridiculously priced statement furniture.

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