FS M1 with 155th/31st Liner Decals

[Pro Libertate]

Good morning, everyone! I'm just entering my foray into collecting M1 helmets. I'm not looking to get crazy, but would like a couple nice examples for my man cave. I just picked up this one from eBay for the princely sum of $75. It's missing the straps; I figured I'd either display it as-is or possibly see if I can't source some original straps and have a local seamstress bartack them for me. At this point, it's just a matter of determining whether I want to remove and arrest what little rust there is on the shell.

 

I thought the decals were a neat addition... always nice to have some provenance.

 

 

[Blueprint]

Nice pick up!

 

IMO: Leave it as it is. Unless the rust is harming the shell I see no reason to remove it. Just swipe the shell in order to remove dust etc. 

 

 

 

 

[gap]

15 minutes ago, Blueprint said:

Nice pick up!

 

IMO: Leave it as it is. Unless the rust is harming the shell I see no reason to remove it. Just swipe the shell in order to remove dust etc. 

 

 

 

 

+1, leave the rust and don't add straps.

[Pro Libertate]

Duly noted! Thank you both for your input. I also purchased this last night off a certain auction site; a lot of militaria that includes this helmet. The photos photos were taken directly from the listing... I don't have it in my possession yet. Initially I thought it was a Korean War helmet, as a number of the items included in the bundle are from that era (Korean War poster, ribbon, etc.), but from what I've gathered, the hardware on the  chinstraps appear to be post Korea. I'll post more detailed photos of both helmets when they arrive.

[The Rooster]

Those straps look like the last issue clip on straps.

 

[Pro Libertate]

Kind of incongruous, right? It certainly doesn't look like a Vietnam-era shell though, does it? It'll be interesting to get a closer inspection of the helmet and liner (that is, assuming it comes with a liner). Of course, the original chinstraps could've long since rotted away, and the previous owner simply replaced them with the cheaper/easier alternative.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, the helmet arrived yesterday. I'm sorry, guys... I value your opinions, but I felt I had to do something to arrest the rust on the inside of the shell; I believe it resulted in a pretty drastic improvement. I'm still on the fence regarding the attachment of chinstraps. I feel as though adding them is nondestructive in the sense they could be easily removed by taking out the barstitching in order to return it to it's original configuration. I've got some NOS stock straps (OD7) from J. Murray laying around, and I think they'd really add to the display.

 

The helmet has a heat stamp of "142B". Is there any way of determining an approximate date of manafacture with this number alone? Does the finish appear original to you?

 

Thanks in advance for being so accessible and sharing your knowledge with me!

[Pro Libertate]

Ultimately, I think I've decided to leave this helmet as-is. I found front seam 

swivel-bail shells for $40 and fixed bail shells for $80 at a surplus store in my state. I've purchased one of their swivel bail shells and will utilize it as a display.