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Rusty Fixed bail USS San Francisco


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Anyone else score a lid or two from a recent eBay sale? I picked up this fixed bail with the Hawley Liner stuck in it. I don’t even want to attempt to lift up the liner. Plus the bales have it snug. Seller said that the helmets he was listing were from the USS San Francisco and had been left in a abandoned warehouse that the roof had collapsed. Buy the item not the story I know. Anyone have an recommendations on how to display this rust bucket? The paint is flaking off. Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

 

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stealthytyler

Being that the paint is so Fragile, I would honestly just spray the heck out of it with matte clear coat to help lock it all in. Shine the lid up a bit and change brightness but better than having it flake off everyday until it’s all gone.

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Being that the paint is so Fragile, I would honestly just spray the heck out of it with matte clear coat to help lock it all in. Shine the lid up a bit and change brightness but better than having it flake off everyday until it’s all gone.

I hate to do it but it’s probably the best idea forward. It is extremely fragile paint and the elements have gotten to it. Will spray and post results later this week.

 

Will

 

 

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Here are my results with Rust-oleum Matte clear enamel. I let it sit outside my garage for acouple days because of the fumes. Overall not too bad, saves some of the paint and I don’t have metal/paint shavings all over the place. Saved some type of insignia on the pot, maybe a cross? Idk either way it’s my first Hawley liner and I’m stoked.

Enjoy!

 

Will

 

 

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Novice helmet person comment:

That helmet and liner give an appearance of having at some point and for awhile been submerged in salt water.

( ) Yes?

( ) No!

( ) Possibly

( ) Unknowable

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Looks like a shipboard medical helmet. While I am totally against preservation techniques used on helmets, I will violate my own standard and say that the advanced deterioration of the paint on a mostly relic helmet could only be slowed down by the process used here. Well done!

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Simon Lerenfort

Given that the red cross marking was underneath flaking paint I might have personally bitten the bullet and attempted to remove the flaking paint. Lacquer is not the typical best method of preserving a marked helmet as it goes against every museum preservation mantra (i.e. being able to preserve the item but also doing so in a way that is cosmetically reversible if need be). Clear lacquer is the devil to remove from an item if you need to.

 

But nice to get a cheap Hawley liner either way.

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Did you use a spray can or brush it on?  Thank you.

Spray can, used about half of a regular size spray paint can on it. I didn’t want to have to do this but it was flaking off way too much.

 

Will

 

 

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Given that the red cross marking was underneath flaking paint I might have personally bitten the bullet and attempted to remove the flaking paint. Lacquer is not the typical best method of preserving a marked helmet as it goes against every museum preservation mantra (i.e. being able to preserve the item but also doing so in a way that is cosmetically reversible if need be). Clear lacquer is the devil to remove from an item if you need to.

A little confused, first you'd bite the bullet and strip the remaining paint, potentially destroying what is left, but you then criticize using clear lacquer to preserve it? These are contradictory statements

 

That said, less is the best for proper preservation. However, as I said earlier, this helmet is a relic, the lacquer is not going to do it any more harm to it at this time and helps set the flaking paint to stop it's self deteriation.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hell a sailor wouldve needle gunned, red leaded and grabbed the closest (and lightest) can of paint and called it good..

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  • 1 month later...

Just picked up this one https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392184982273 and this one: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392184996810 . I've wanted a Hawley for as long as I've been in collecting (>10 years) but was never really willing to shell out the kind of money they go for. Don't even care that the one I finally got is in this condition, so long as I'm able to preserve it and keep it from further degrading - if it made it this long and came out looking like this from an abandoned and exposed Florida warehouse, I think it'll be alright! Planning on spraying them the same way you did, can you post a photo of the can you used or describe it since it worked so well? Thanks. Granted my Hawley looks to be in slightly better shape overall (removable) and hammered a little lower, but your shell has more character with the corpsman marking so I think we both did extremely well.

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Add this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/392185021549?_trksid=p2047675.m570.l5998&_trkparms=gh1g%3DI392185021549.N35.S1.R1.TR10&autorefresh=true

 

Don't know why I've suddenly gotten a soft spot for Navy/relic helmets, but they just have so much character. Also, in all likelihood, our helmets were at Guadalcanal if they did come off CA-38.

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Okay, well since the edit window for comments seems to be about 10 minutes and I was trying to fix the links with little success (they now seem to go to similar items with my helmet in a small box at the top), here's another try. Also see that you indicated which paint you used, so will give it a try on my three.

 

Fixed bail with Hawley: https://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-US-NAVY-GRAY-HELMET-FIXED-BAIL-FRONT-SEAM-CARDBOARD-LINER-ROUGH-CONDITION-/392184982273?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720

 

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Fixed bail shell with straps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-US-NAVY-GRAY-HELMET-FIXED-BAIL-FRONT-SEAM-USED-ROUGH-CONDITION-NO-LINER-/392184996810?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720

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Swivel bail with straps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-US-M1-NAVY-GRAY-HELMET-SWIVEL-BAIL-FRONT-SEAM-USED-ROUGH-CONDITION-NO-LINER-/392185021549?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720

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I was bidding on the other Hawley but pay day isn’t until next Friday. Excellent helmets btw!

 

 

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bcef76531372da9ef5843b023d1f5d59.jpg

 

I was bidding on the other Hawley but pay day isn’t until next Friday. Excellent helmets btw!

 

 

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Thanks for posting that, will make spotting it in the Home Depot Sea that much easier. Sorry I jumped in there at the end, just really wanted a Hawley and had to have it after years of trying to find a good deal. Had a feeling I'd be bidding against someone from here though. I was surprised nobody bid against me on the fixed bail (was first and only bidder for about the last day), and only had to fend off one or two bids on the swivel. If his pallet photos are any indicator, though, I'm sure this isn't the last we've heard of him.

 

Edit: While we're in the spirit of salty Navy helmets, here's an unrelated to CA-38 (as far as I know, seller said he didn't know which ship it came off but it shipped from Louisiana) late war rear seam with gray liner I picked up about a week ago. Would it be preservation sacrilege to clean the inside of the liner with a wet paper towel (being careful around what's left of the webbing, obviously)?

 

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My San Francisco lids came today, and all I can say is wow. You can feel the history and practically smell the salt just holding them. My swivel bail is most similar to yours as far as paint condition, unfortunately the inside is too rusty to make out any heat stamp. However, I could make out the stamps on both the fixed bales. Do not have my book with the chart handy (buried somewhere), but the Hawley shell is 63D and the standalone fixed bail is 79A, which I believe is a Schlueter and know their fixed bales are fairly rare. I also believe both of these dates are pre-Pearl Harbor (hopefully someone can chime in), so perhaps they were even at the attack if they made it from the factory to the ship in time.

 

Too cold here in New England to spray them currently, so placed them back in the box stacked wrapped in plastic bags and will spray when it gets warmer.

 

Swivel bail has traces of red too, but thinking it is red lead and not a DC or medical:

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Hawley 63D (no markings in the liner except the sweatband), still has a lot of OD visible inside:

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Forgot to photograph the other fixed bail before I packed them away and would rather not use a pair of gloves just to photograph it, but it looks about the same as eBay photos.

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