UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories Helmet Forum M16 camo: original?

Hi Guys, Is there ANY way of telling (from this pic) if this paintjob was done 8 or 88 years ago?

Thanks in advance!

//Anders

Since no one else has ventured in, I must say that it looks promising. It would help to have some interior photos. Do you have this one in your possession?

Thanks! It doesn't it? It's not in my possession. Yet. There's no liner left and this is what the inside looks like:

That lightgreen color is a very unusual color for these helmets. Ken N. may know if it's simply the base factory color that has faded or if it's a field color. The wear on the helmet looks authentic to me. The black has a tendency to "doll-face" then flake off. I see that here.

The light green portions show the same brush-strokes as the other colored portions of the helmet. Obviously the green was painted on at the same time as the other panels.

This one sure looks good to me.

AndersB... I recently met a collector from Sweden who came over to the SOS show in the states last month. Hi name was Anders and while I don't exactly remember his last name, it started with B as well. It wasn't you was it?

I told ya so...

quote:

Originally posted by Ken N:
The light green portions show the same brush-strokes as the other colored portions of the helmet. Obviously the green was painted on at the same time as the other panels.

This one sure looks good to me.

AndersB... I recently met a collector from
Sweden who came over to the SOS show in the states last month. Hi name was Anders and while I don't exactly remember his last name, it started with B as well. It wasn't you was it?

Hi Ken, I'm afraid I'm not that Anders, (but we have exchanged a few emails before...) Seems like this show is something!

Damn, I let that camo slip to someone else for USD 625.-...

$625??? Cool! I see my similar 4 color Stainedglasser has doubled in price since I bought it only 3 years ago. Same shape. 4 colors (including blue). Original purchase amount $325. Now $625.

I agree that the paint does look very old on this helmet.

One thing to be mentioned about these WWI helmets is that, visitors to WWI battlefields in the 1920's wanted to take a souvenir home.

The locals had an ample supply of helmets, there was a local cottage industry in painting up the "Souvenir's" so that makes them almost 90 years old..

Which would you pick a plain green or a cammo ??

I went over a few years ago, and we still want the souvenir's...

Go to any major battlefield on the Somme and the local cafe / bar will be selling WWI bits,
Brass fuses / grenades being probaly the most popular then relic helmets, bayonets etc...

Impossible to tell a 1918 painted helmet to 1922 painted helmet... IMO... And i have quite a few examples..

Excellent points.
I, too, have gone to France for a look at some of the famous battle sites, and all that you describe is exactly as I found it to be.
Those camos still look really good, but, as most know, the actual camo period was brief..I've heard it described as the the last 8 months of the war.
Paul

Interesting that you brought the brief cammo thing up. I've been studying 20th century war history with an emphasis on the world wars for 30+ years, and addicted to the History Channel, and to this day I have yet to see any newsreel/photo's of cammo'd M16-17-18 helmets. I'm not saying that they did'nt exist, but how many were actually cammo'd pre 11 Nov, 1918?