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WW1 Army helmet question.

4K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  Big Heap 
#1 ·
I own my grandfathers WW1 helmet,and was wondering if any one on here knows if someone or some company restores them.I know a lot on here are exmilitary and perhaps someone may know.I would really appreciate it as this old helmet,to me,is priceless!Thank you!
 
#2 ·
Why do you want to restore it and turn it into something strange and meaningless. No matter what condition it's in, when you run your hands over its surface, you're touching the same thing your grandfather touched. Get it "restored" and all of that is gone and the connections to the past that go with it.

Andy Moreland
 
#5 ·
I agree with you guys on leaving it original,except that it laid in the top of an old cellar for years.All that is left is the metal.But even if I cant get it restored it still means just as much to me!I can remeber him telling me about all the places he had been,and all the hardships they had to suffer through.It seems nowadays hardly anyone remembers or cares what these guys went through.

Frank C,I was at a friends house,and he showed me a small piece of metal that his dad had brought back from WW2.He had taken the butt of an M1 and knocked it off of the wall in Hitlers castle in the mountains,Icant remeber the name of it.Needless to say he was very proud of it!!
 
#17 ·
Looks like a French army helmet, but I don't know if they used fiberglass liners or not.<br>
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I have a WWII "Doughboy" helmet. It looks identical to a WWI helmet. The finish is light flat olive drab, mixed with coarse sand. This was thickly brushed on, giving it texture to help break up any sheen even further. I have not seen helmets used in WWI done this way, so I'm presuming this was from WWII.<br>
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An old item that is rusted and sans finish really doesn't have a lot of value to lose unless it is rare, and helmets aren't rare. Restoring the finish isn't going to hurt anything in this case. The color was Olive Drab Number 22, which is a semi-gloss olive drab that is very brownish. These helmets were often repainted with a more green flat olive drab, or with camo patterns. It's interesting the used of yellow as a camo paint in WWI, instead of tan or sand. BTW, if olive drab could not be obtained, yellow and black mixed together make olive drab. (This is a trick that works well with Rustoleum). Depending on the ratio, the olive drab will vary.
 
#18 ·
A lot of the WWI helmets had the divisional patch hand painted on them.

The one I have has a 91st division 'Pine Tree' on it.

Personally I'd leave it as is.

Another cool collectible from the war are the Inter-Allied Victory Medals. All the allies (with the exception of Russia) struck individual medals, but they all used the same suspension ribbon. The US version is unique in that the length of the suspension ribbon varied based on the number of 'battle-bars' the individual earned, i.e 'Meuse-Argonne' . The bars were the precursor of 'battle' stars used on US campaign ribbons today.

Jim
 
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