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1944 U.S. M2-10-6 Army Lightweight Optical Mask Restoration


DukeNougat3d
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DukeNougat3d

Greetings, everyone. In this thread I wish to cover the restoration of a very rare WWII Optical mask from start to finish, cover the processes done, and generally make everyone aware that these older masks can be saved in the right hands. The M2-10-6 Lightweight Optical Mask was introduced in 1942 to replace the older MI-I-5 and MIA1-I-5 Optical Masks which had used combersome, awkward head canisters, similar to the Navy Diaphragm Masks. The M2-10-6 used the same grey (later black) plastic diaphragm angletube assembly as post-1942 contract M3A1 Army Diaphragm Masks, had a similar harness rivet configuration and used the same M3 Hose, M6 Carrier, and M10/M10A1 Filters as the M3-10A1-6 Lightweight Service Mask, and was also produced of chloroprene (neoprene) rubber like the M3 Lightweight.

Most surviving examples of these masks were produced in 1944 and postwar, they were upgraded as the M2-10A1-6 by being produced of a natural/artificial rubber blend and used the upgraded metal C11 Diaphragm Angletube, which is distinctive for its wire mesh screening protecting the diaphragm membrane. WWII-era M2 Optical Masks are extremely rare, with currently less than 10 known in existance (as far as I've studied among collectors and museums).

When this specimen was found, it was in horrific, barn-fresh condition, being only the facepiece alone with a horribly bent lens distance adjustment rod, a large cut on the side of the facepiece (which was being held together with a staple!), had a completely fried M7 head harness, and was coated in all manner of dirt and grit.
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The mask as it was found.

The owner managed to clean most of the grime off and repair the bent rod before it was sent to me for repairs. For the repair patch, I found some sheet chloroprene that was the exact texture of the facepiece material itself. From this angle you can see the state of the tear (which was likely purposely done to demilitarize the mask) and the head harness.
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DukeNougat3d

Before any patchwork, I needed to carefully field-strip every component of the facepiece for a thorough cleaning. Luckily I managed to do so without damaging any hardware and quickly made work of removing discoloration from the speech cone, rust from the angletube assembly, residual dirt on the facepiece, etc.

On the far right, you can see the after and before of removing discoloration from Class 'B' Grey Rubber.

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The facepiece and its individual components, cleaned and disassembled.
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DukeNougat3d

With everything cleaned, patching the facepiece was a fairly simple ordeal - the surrounding rubber was lightly sanded to score the surface to allow better glue adhesion, the patch was cut to overlap the rubber surrounding the tear, the backside of the patch was scored with sandpaper as well, the surfaces were cleaned with acetone, drysuit cement was applied in a thin coat to both surfaces, and applied from the edge inwards, flatting everything down with a roller, and applying additional glue on the inside of the tear and wherever else needed.

Left: The cleaned Diaphragm Angletube Housing, rust removed after several hours in evapo-rust and treated with renaissance wax to prevent future rusting.
Right: The patched tear.
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Re-assembling the hardware was done through the guidelines of TM 3-205 - after re-assembling and screwing the diaphragm assembly back together, the speech cone was re-attached with an initial layer of fabric tape down on the cone port, rubber cement applied to both the tape and the cone, tape applied around the outside of the cone, fixed in place with double-wrapped 21-gauge stainless steel wire, with a final layer of fabric tape over this.
A strip of fabric tape was placed around the entire assembly itself, rubber cement applied to both the tape and the corresponding port on the mask, the diaphragm assembly inserted with a 3/4" strip of tape wrapped around the outside of the diaphragm port, the steel wire clamp replaced, and another layer of tape wrapped over this.

From the inside, you can see the additional cement applied over the tear for reinforcement, since the textured interior would make patching from this side impractical. Also worth mentioning is the use of 'naval jelly' rust dissolver to remove rust from the steel rivets of the mask's harness assembly, followed by a treatment of renaissance wax, the after effects of which are not shown in this post.
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DukeNougat3d

There was some debate as to how the hose would be replaced, and the original plan was to buy an M3-10A1-6 Lightweight Service Mask in poor condition to cannibalize the hose off, but all auctions we ran across kept getting bid well past our comfort level for a parts mask, so I proposed to the man commissioning me for the restoration that I would sacrifice the postwar M2-10A1-6 in my personal collection (also my very first restoration) and donate the hose and carrier if he were to buy me a mint-condition replacement.

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And so he did - and much for the better as well, as the hose that was stolen off my first M2-10A1-6 was also made by Seiberling Rubber Co - same as the M2-10-6 I was restoring, and I don't think I could have had a more perfect matchup if we had chose to use a random M3 Lightweight.

 

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DukeNougat3d

And with that, the restoration was complete. a 1944-dated U.S. M2-10-6 Army Lightweight Optical Mask as brought back to wearable, displayable condition again, it was promptly sent back to its owner, and I walked away happy that a piece of history was given a second chance and that I had another mask to replace the one I sacrificed. The owner ended up replacing the M7 Harness with a better example after it was back in his hands again.

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Terrific job!!

Many thanks! Here is the youtube channel of the collector the restored mask went to. I'm not sure when or if he will end up making a video on it, though. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO7PM9t06V92Q89a7_NihQw/videos?&ab_channel=OlderMasksAreTheBest

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DukeNougat3d

On a related note, the Class 'B' Grey Rubber Hose featured in the second photo of Post #2 was used in its own restoration. During the proccess of restoring the M2-10-6, I had snagged this M4-10A1-6 Lightweight Optical Mask for my personal collection. The facepiece, carrier, and accessories were fine, but the hose was petrified.

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I made prompt work of utilizing the spare hose I had on hand. Quite the impovement, wouldn't you say?

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I also offer mask restoration services for anybody interested.

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A guy from France had one of these WW2 optical masks for sale on eBay quite a few years ago.....It came complete with the original bag and cardboard box.....Was asking like $400, but couldn't get any interest.....Don't recall if he ever sold it.....This mask and a facepiece from another one are the only two WW2 versions I've ever seen on eBay....They just don't turn up...

 

Intrestingly enough, the Korean war versions of this mask are constantly being listed as WW2 era on eBay.....I know, it makes them more appealing....Bodes

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DukeNougat3d

A guy from France had one of these WW2 optical masks for sale on eBay quite a few years ago.....It came complete with the original bag and cardboard box.....Was asking like $400, but couldn't get any interest.....Don't recall if he ever sold it.....This mask and a facepiece from another one are the only two WW2 versions I've ever seen on eBay....They just don't turn up...

 

Intrestingly enough, the Korean war versions of this mask are constantly being listed as WW2 era on eBay.....I know, it makes them more appealing....Bodes

Interesting, do let me know if he ever tries to resell it again, I know of many people who would gladly pay that amount for one. And I agree, it's strange how the postwar variants are contiuously labelled as 'WWII'. It would be neat to find out on what level these masks were issued, because I've only ever seen one that was named to a soldier and the only record of the M2 Optical being used is by armor crews for a breif period during the 50's, according to a historical report on combat vehicle crewman's masks by Maj. Robert D. Walk. During WWII, it was much more common to see armor crews using standard-issue service masks, particularly M3 and M3A1 Army Diaphragm Masks.

 

I wasn't aware that this model was rare. Here's mine.

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Very nice example! Tell me, is your carrier stamped 'OPTICAL MASK' or was it originally stamped 'Service Mask' but later crossed out and restamped for an optical mask? There are two variations of the carrier for these masks and I'm curious if the later re-stamped M6 bags were ever issued with the WWII variants. Also interesting is the fact your example's carrier is OG-107, most of the WWII M2-10-6 Opticals I've seen have come with OG-103-dyed M6 Carriers.

 

Hats off to you Sir for your patience and ingenuity. Superb job all round.

Much obliged, it was definitely worth the effort in the end!

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DukeNougat3d

My carrier is overstamped optical.

 

That's amazing, never knew the WWII variants were supplied with that carrier, I always thought the re-stamped M6 bags were postwar only. Thank you for posting your example.

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Robin's mask is missing the threaded lens adjuster.....An easy fix though, but would need to take one from another mask....Bodes

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I wasn't aware that this model was rare. Here's mine.

 

I don't know production numbers, but guess these were made in the tens of thousands....They likely have become difficult to find because the majority were shipped overseas and never returned....This and the few remaining in use by the US military were used and subsequently discarded....The tiny numbers remaining just fortunately kept by returning GI's.....Bodes

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DukeNougat3d

 

I know somebody who can restore it!...LOL!....Bodes

I do actually have a spare adjuster rod, but it's from a Navy Diaphragm Gas Mask Repair Kit and would need to be repainted grey. Those diaphragm parts on the other hand would need to be stolen from a donor M3A1, and that's not even considering the threads may have deformed from the plastic warping over time. I've handled and repaired enough U.S. WWII masks to know those plastic diaphragm angletube assemblies are quite fickle things and the fact I was able to unscrew the one on the M2-10-6 I restored is nothing short of a miracle lol.

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DukeNougat3d

I think this thread would serve well as a general mask restoration thread because yet another project has rolled into my lap today - here I have an M8-11-10 Army Snout-Type Gas Mask, a complete kit, but unfortunately the facepiece is torn in several places and dry-rotted all over.

The M8 Snout Gas Mask was adopted in 1945 as the low-cost, stop-gap successor to the M5-11-7 Army Assault Gas Mask, which was plagued with issues of high rejection rate due to the complex re-vulcanization process to add the side port. The idea that the Army went with to meet the requirements of a lightweight, compact service mask utilizing the M11 Drum Canister was to take M4 (or M3 in early cases) Lightweight Service Masks, remove the M3 Hose, M10A1 Filter, and M6 Carrier, and supply the hose stem with an angled 60mm Thread, affix the upgraded C4 Head Harness, and supply it with the M10 Carry Bag. They were produced with anticipation of a full-scale invasion of the Japanese home islands, but this would not come to be.

The mask I have was plenty filthy when I got it, and I've managed to remove all the residual dirt and blooming I could, but the current plan is that I'm going to wait and find a cheap M2A2 Service Mask as a donor faceblank and swap the harness, inlet thread assembly, and nosecup over to it, which I have the experience, reference manuals, and tooling/hardware to do, but it is just a matter of getting that donor mask. I'll post updates whenever they happen.

 

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The camera doesn't do justice to the amount of damage this mask has. I can assure the facepiece is 70% tears and dry-rotting, but thankfully the essential hardware is all intact.

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The corrugated hoses on my MkI Optical Navy mask are starting to split in the creases.....I believe this was caused from many years of sitting curled up behind the face piece.....Can these be glued in order to keep from completely tearing through?......Bodes

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DukeNougat3d

The corrugated hoses on my MkI Optical Navy mask are starting to split in the creases.....I believe this was caused from many years of sitting curled up behind the face piece.....Can these be glued in order to keep from completely tearing through?......Bodes

 

Unfortunately, repairing tears in hoses is not something I have had success in. I have attempted to do such procedures on torn Japanese hoses with various types, strengths, and thicknesses of rubber cement and have never had any lasting success. The joint is just too high stress to adhere without damaging itself again. That being said, I have work underway to make reproduction hoses for various U.S. Masks of the WWI-WWII period, but I am waiting until me and my research associate have the time and space to set up a workshop to construct molds.

Also general update on the M8 Snout Mask Restoration project, it seems like next month I'll be meeting up with my associate again to look through his collection and he may have a spare M2A2 facepiece to possibly use to replace the shredded one.

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  • 1 month later...
DukeNougat3d

Finally some updates on the M8 Snout Mask Restoration. I've got an M2A2 Service Mask coming in the mail soon that seems to be an excellent donor faceblank from the look of its condition. In the meantime, I went ahead and stripped all the hardware off the M8 and it's all ready for installing on the new faceblank.

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Parts List:
- Eyepiece Assembly, Cellulose Acetate (x2)
- Head Harness Assembly, C4 (Manufactured by B.F. Goodrich and Johnson & Johnson Co.)
- Nosecup Assembly (Manufactured by Industrial Rubber Goods Co,)
- Outlet Valve, M8
- Canister Mounting Adapter Assembly

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DukeNougat3d

Here's the mask I will be using for the restoration - an M2A2 Army Service Mask with a faceblank made by Goodyear in August of 1942. I hate to split up a nice kit like this, but M8-11-10 Snout Masks are much rarer than M2A2's, so it is a necessary sacrifice.

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DukeNougat3d

10 minutes to strip an M2A2 down to the faceblank must be a new personal record for me! Anyhow, the parts are all ready for re-assembly and conversion into an M8 Snout Mask.

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DukeNougat3d

Looking better already - The eyerings and their infernal crimp tabs are quite possibly my least favorite part about working with U.S. WWII masks, they never want to cooperate! I may have crimped them a little tighter than needed, but assuming the mask is stored in favorable conditions, the eyepieces shouldn't cut through the rubber in my lifetime, at least. The eyerings had a decent amount of paint worn away, so once they were crimped in place, I carefully touched the paint up with a small brush (this was how it was done at the factory as well). I also began installing all the valve hardware as you can see.

 

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