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Camo M1917A1


Nickman983
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Just got this in the mail today and was looking to get some additional opinions on it. It's a McCord manufactured (16A) M1917A1 with camo paint. So far I've looked at it under the loupe and under black light. I'm seeing a few signs of microcracks and no signs of glow under the black light. I think at least so far things are looking good on this one but I've been wrong in the past.

 

The helmet has the last name "Brown" written inside on the brim. The liner is in rough shape, the crown pad has unfortunately come loose, and the buckle portion of the chinstrap is missing. That being said, I think the helmet shows a lot of use.

 

Interestingly, I'm seeing some blue show up under the camo paint, I haven't figured out why that might be there though.

 

I'm going to try taking some shots outside in natural light when I get the chance either tomorrow or Sunday as well as posting some pictures of the paint under the loupe, but I figured I'd put these first set of photos up and see what peoples opinions on this one are.

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Some more information on this helmet: I bought it from a seller in England off eBay. It was listed as a WWI British Brodie helmet so it kind of flew under the radar I think. In any case, assuming it is legitimate I think I got a good price on it.

 

I had some time this morning so I was able to get some pictures of the helmet outside and some closeups of the paint.

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post-169952-0-27367900-1570292138.jpg

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Agree. Love the camo scheme which was applied on the helmet and even more how the colours turn much better in natural light!

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Thanks all, I appreciate the opinions!

 

Agree. Love the camo scheme which was applied on the helmet and even more how the colours turn much better in natural light!

 

It was a beautiful out earlier when I took those pictures and that really helped capture the true colors! The helmet looks great but outside it looks even better

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Out of curiosity, is there any chance that the camo on this may be vesicant paint? I'm not the best with colors but I thought it kind of looks similar to the color of gas detecting paint. I'm not convinced that it is but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

Also, any ideas when this helmet may have been used?

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I like it too. I don't think the camo is vesicant paint. I think the color is US camo paint.

 

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. I ended up finding a method for testing vesicant paint here on the forums and tried that on a very small chip of paint and saw no color change. Like I mentioned, I wasn't sold on it being vesicant but since I've never had hands on experience with it I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

In any case, I'm very pleased with this one. Looks great next to my Captain marked McCord M1917A1!

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Where would this kind of camo have been used? This seems to be different from most WWI camo helmets which were mostly painted during the occupation time or while the GI's were enroute home after the war ended. The paint does look old, but is it 100 years old or 80 years oid? The blue paint underneath would make me think it's on the "newer" side of things. It would be nice to find another example done up in this pattern.

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Where would this kind of camo have been used? This seems to be different from most WWI camo helmets which were mostly painted during the occupation time or while the GI's were enroute home after the war ended. The paint does look old, but is it 100 years old or 80 years oid? The blue paint underneath would make me think it's on the "newer" side of things. It would be nice to find another example done up in this pattern.

 

We know for a fact that it was painted some time after 1939 or 1940 due to the fact that this is a McCord manufactured m1917A1 rather than a refurbished m1917. I would think chances are it was painted some time shortly before or shortly after WWII begun but I can't be certain. I would love to see period pictures of camo m1917A1s if anyone has some.

 

I wonder what happened to the other strap since it sold before.

 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/original-complete-early-wwii-1810982712

 

I'm wondering the same thing. If it's like the hook side it was probably mostly torn off and someone managed to knock it off but I'm confused why someone wouldn't have kept it with the helmet. I'm also curious as to when and for how much this was sold for in the listing that was captured.

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Looks like British tropical (Italy) camo. Who knows, perhaps a Tommy got a Yank helmet from a early arrival unit once they were fitted with the M1 helmet.

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