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WorldWar2.ro Forum > Small arms, Daggers & Uniforms > RESTORING A WW2 HELMET

Posted by: Ferdinand June 22, 2011 09:38 am

Hello gents!

After long time i've managed to get some time to restore a ww2 romanian(dutch) helmet. So here it goes. Maybe someone will be interested in these steps.

1. Cleaning the post '45 paint, so the helmet will look as the one in the picture.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/dsc0415hm.jpg/

2.While working with paint remover(decanol-cromofag made in Hungary) i found the original dutch paint.You can also see the former place of carol cyphre. after the most of paint is removed i sanded(glasspapier 180 and 600) the metal.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/137/dsc0418t.jpg/

3. I've apllyied the cypher with a resin base glue and waited 1 day to dry.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/dsc0419z.jpg/

4. One more sanding with 800 and then the grease remove(with paint thinner=diluant). I've spray it with paint that is like the one i found on the inside(original romanian ww2)and the result is this:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/dsc0443h.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/339/cascafm.jpg/

There is one difference(i will repair it). The cyphre was painted in ww2 with a different tone of green, and this is not a request but a technical problem. Brass needs special treatment for paint. So the cyprhe will be a little darker than the rest of the helmet. That's it.

If more info is needed ....
greetings.

I DON"T HAVE ANY CAROL CYPHRE FOR SALE!!!!!!!!

Posted by: mihnea June 22, 2011 12:59 pm

The inner part of the cypher was black, ANDI has a nice original helmet and you can see were the black paint starts.

The pictures were here http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=542&hl=dutch%20helmet&st=60 but now they are dead (the mesage is from 2006). Maybe he will repost them, that helmet is beautiful.

Any way good job, I think the color is ok. How did you replicate the cypher. I think you could have reused the old tin to reattach the cypher you only needed to apply flux to the back of the cypher and then heat the helmet until the tin melted and would permanently attach the cypher to the helmet.

Posted by: Mannlicher June 23, 2011 08:45 am

Nice work.

ANDI's original helmet (and a few other variants) can be seen here also - http://www.traditia-militara.ro/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1235842425 - unfortunately the text is written in romanian.

Posted by: suhl1260 June 23, 2011 04:42 pm

Hello Seeker. Nice job made with the restauration. I have a question: from where did you obtain the paint?. Is there a machine that does the paint (RAL codes) for the romanian and german helmets?

Thanks,Andrei

Posted by: Ferdinand June 23, 2011 07:31 pm

QUOTE (suhl1260 @ June 23, 2011 04:42 pm)

Thanks.

The paint can be made at any auto paint shop that has a RAL palette. There is one problem....in order for the paint to be non shiny(mata) there is a component that makes the paint lighter in color. So you must be carefull when the meister prepares the paint.

Posted by: rixard June 24, 2011 07:45 am

Well done! However, I agree with the respected mihnea - front emblem on their helmets issued to the smelter (not repainted in the front) should be black. In this note, staining the front emblem that the outer rim is the color of the helmet (green). Sincerely rixard.
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7057/49685639.jpg

Posted by: magicdutchmen July 29, 2011 02:55 pm

Probably interesting for reenactors. From a collectors point of view I see it as a waste of a good helmet. Sorry.

Posted by: Ferdinand July 31, 2011 11:01 am

QUOTE (magicdutchmen @ July 29, 2011 02:55 pm)

Probably interesting for reenactors. From a collectors point of view I see it as a waste of a good helmet. Sorry.

I understand your point of view. I ruined the helmet that was rusty and 2-3 layers of comunist era paint was corroding and missing on some large area. From my seller point of view i can obtain more $ on it as it is now that the rusty comunist paintjobs.