robinb Posted February 2, 2022 Share #1 Posted February 2, 2022 Found this years ago for $10 at an antique store. Figured at 10 bucks I couldn't go wrong. The cammo always looked like a kid did it to play army in the back yard. Well, fast forward to a few days ago. While watching yet more footage of Iwo Jima, I spotted this very similarly painted helmet. Now I'm a lot more optimistic about my 10 dollar find. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted February 2, 2022 Share #2 Posted February 2, 2022 Robin Very cool Interesting helmet. Is the rim painted white? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinb Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share #3 Posted February 2, 2022 It is painted white. Seems odd to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmax Posted February 2, 2022 Share #4 Posted February 2, 2022 They look too much like eachother for this to be a simple coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted February 2, 2022 Share #5 Posted February 2, 2022 Definitely some differences, don’t think it’s the same helmet. But does make it seem like it could be a wartime paint job. Nice helmet regardless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhcoleterracina Posted February 3, 2022 Share #6 Posted February 3, 2022 Ten years ago latex paint was the common paint that a kid would grab out of the garage. Is there a way to tell the difference between latex vs oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted February 3, 2022 Share #7 Posted February 3, 2022 If a G.I. went to the trouble to camouflage his helmet, I doubt he would paint the rim white to make it stand out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMC_COLLECTOR Posted February 3, 2022 Share #8 Posted February 3, 2022 Either way... 10 dollars is a real steal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken88 Posted February 3, 2022 Share #9 Posted February 3, 2022 The white isn't necessarily proof of a fake paint job. Look up (razzle) dazzle camo. If it's navy the white could be a match for the ship it was on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox777 Posted February 3, 2022 Share #10 Posted February 3, 2022 Hello there, i have a helmet with a paintjob like this one. I posted photos before on this forum. It is back seam swivelbale with a burlap cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted February 3, 2022 Share #11 Posted February 3, 2022 4 hours ago, ken88 said: The white isn't necessarily proof of a fake paint job. Look up (razzle) dazzle camo. If it's navy the white could be a match for the ship it was on. Why would you need foliage camo on a ship in the middle of the ocean??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinb Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share #12 Posted February 3, 2022 I can't explain why the rim of my helmet was painted white. That's the one thing about it that has always bothered me. But with that said, why would a kid playing army with it paint it white? That doesn't make any sense either. And I never made any claim that my helmet was the same one in the Iwo Jima picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken88 Posted February 3, 2022 Share #13 Posted February 3, 2022 32 minutes ago, gap said: Why would you need foliage camo on a ship in the middle of the ocean??? Hi, I know it doesn't make sense, but dazzle/naval camouflage was not limited to specific colors (brown being no exception) or even patterns, although most of the examples you'll find will demonstrate very geometrical shapes and designs, there appears to be a difference in how the bigger ships were camouflaged, when compared to their amphibious counterparts. Of course there could be other explanations as for why the rim is white, this a just one of the possibilities and by no means do I claim dazzle camo is what we are looking at here, but it might be something worth looking into. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox777 Posted February 3, 2022 Share #14 Posted February 3, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox777 Posted February 3, 2022 Share #15 Posted February 3, 2022 The camo underneath this burlap helmet looks a bit like yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted February 3, 2022 Share #16 Posted February 3, 2022 2 hours ago, robinb said: I can't explain why the rim of my helmet was painted white. That's the one thing about it that has always bothered me. But with that said, why would a kid playing army with it paint it white? That doesn't make any sense either. And I never made any claim that my helmet was the same one in the Iwo Jima picture. Hello Robin My first thought when I saw the rim and asked the initial question if it was white paint was the rim was painted to cover the bare steel from reflection. Seeing how the paint often wore off the rim easily painting it would be an option. If white was all they had at the time hard to say. I have seen a lot stranger things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted February 3, 2022 Share #17 Posted February 3, 2022 3 hours ago, gap said: Why would you need foliage camo on a ship in the middle of the ocean??? UDT off Iwo Jima 1945 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigschuss Posted February 3, 2022 Share #18 Posted February 3, 2022 On 2/1/2022 at 10:59 PM, robinb said: Found this years ago for $10 at an antique store. Figured at 10 bucks I couldn't go wrong. The cammo always looked like a kid did it to play army in the back yard. Well, fast forward to a few days ago. While watching yet more footage of Iwo Jima, I spotted this very similarly painted helmet. Now I'm a lot more optimistic about my 10 dollar find. What do you guys think Can you post a link to that Youtube vid? Just want to see if the rim is actually white, or there is some aberration going on due to poor video quality. Could it be the rim looks white but it's really just the sun highlighting the edge wear on a stainless rim? There are other things in that video capture that seem brighter (or whiter) than they actually are...the Marine's collar edge, the camo cover, the strap. Those are all cloth items that seem bright. I can imagine the effect being exacerbated on steel. The white on the rim looks exactly the same as the white on the camo cover...and surely the camo cover isn't white. Not sure if this is colorized or not, but sometimes colorized video has strange saturation and/or lighting anomalies. Thanks... the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burning Hazard Posted February 4, 2022 Share #19 Posted February 4, 2022 Seems odd that the rim would be painted white, it increases visibility and makes camo pointless. Here is a pic of how GI's handled reflective rim, they would either paint it over or tape it. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted February 4, 2022 Share #20 Posted February 4, 2022 Thats a great Image Pat. I have a 113th Cav helmet where the NCO stripe is covered in tape Have seen both medical tape and friction tape used on helmets. I know the white isnt the best for use but we see it with tac marls and also the white circles for the Navy helmets. At this point we really can only speculate as non if us were there and even war time pictures dont catch everything that was done Im sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlymb Posted February 4, 2022 Share #21 Posted February 4, 2022 8 hours ago, Burning Hazard said: Seems odd that the rim would be painted white, it increases visibility and makes camo pointless. Here is a pic of how GI's handled reflective rim, they would either paint it over or tape it. Pat Not necessarily, the white would also break up the possible distinctive rim of the helmet as it usually makes a sharp contrast between high (light) and low (shadow) areas. Just an idea though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now