Paint for Repro FJ Helmet

[Von Lessel]

Hi guys

I have a 'BBHonker' Para helmet which as you probably know is the wrong pale grey colour. I have decided to paint it in a 'desert/Italy' tan colour. my question is does anyone have any advice to make the helmet 'look' right?
I.e i have the right tan afrika colour paint but is there a good way of putting the paint on over the grey to make it look 'authentic'? I'm sure i read somewhere about putting black on as a base coat?

Hope this makes sense. Any help much appreciated.Thanks in advance.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, I would strip the entire helmet back to bare metal for starters. Then repaint it in the correct shade of grey/green. Bake this in the oven. Then respray with the tan/yellow.


Cheers, Ade.

[foamspoon]

If you really want it to look right contact Eric Grigsby at www.grigsbymilitaria.com


Bryan

[Frentebro]

See Germanparahelmet.com to fix incorrect liners or provide new ones.

Grigsby - another place that promises to make your helmet look 60 years old. Sad. And $80 for a paint job. I used several coats of Rustoleum Camouflage Forest Green & a spraying of semi-gloss (the Green is dead matte), baked at about 212 for half an hour, maybe not the industry standard but it works. Bolts painted & baked separately. I then handled the helm a lot to take the newness off.

http://Germanparahelmet.com will fix incorrect liners & sell new ones.

I got the helm from Reenactors.com auction but could never find out who made the shell & liner. Shell is unmarked, heavy steel. Liner maker-marked to Muller Jr. The shell was "Luft blue" when i got it.

It was hard to strip, having 3 layers of primer (which the Germans did not use on helmets, they painted the bare metal after acid-etching.)

[Von Lessel]

Cheers guys, will give it some thought. maybe try your way first Ady.

[Seigfried]

Ade,
I have read this about 'baking your helmet' (ouch) several times. What does it achieve exactly and is it done before the decals go on. I also have a repro para that I wish to paint but have never got around to it!

Regards,
John

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi John, basically it makes the paint adhere to the metal much better. (As there is no primer used.) Do it before any decals are applied. I warn you now to do this while the wife is out and have all the windows and doors open in the kitchen as the smell is pretty bad. Lez was not impressed when I did a couple of helmet restorations for friends who do German living history.

Cheers, Ade.

[Von Lessel]

Yea your right Ady, Man thats a strong smell!!

[On-to-Berlin]

Yea your right Ady, Man thats a strong smell!!

Hey, has anyone tried to apply the semi rough texture as it was used on mid war helmets? I mean not only throwing a handful of sand on the helmet...
Fabian

[FJR6]

Hello,
when I did my bbhonker, I sandblasted the shell and it had 4 pretty hard coats of various paints on it, including bright orange, etc.
I suggest if you don't have access to industrial equipment, just prime the helmet light-grey and then paint it tan.
Don't worry about this Uber-tricking, if you use it, it will show wear after a while.

best regards,
Volker

[Von Lessel]

Volker

I actually did just that. I just rubbed down the grey that was on it (to rough up for the new paint to bond too) then applyed the tan roughly, sanded a bit more the applyed some more. It now has a roughly applied look, where you can just make out shades underneath.
Plus i added a bit of dirt etc to the paint. Pleased with it.

I found what did help was i dragged it aroud my gravel drive a bit and then left it in my work van when driving around, (loads of stuff scratching/scuffing it etc.- including the eagle)It now looks 'worn'.

[Rolf D.]

Volker

I actually did just that. I just rubbed down the grey that was on it (to rough up for the new paint to bond too) then applyed the tan roughly, sanded a bit more the applyed some more. It now has a roughly applied look, where you can just make out shades underneath.
Plus i added a bit of dirt etc to the paint. Pleased with it.

I found what did help was i dragged it aroud my gravel drive a bit and then left it in my work van when driving around, (loads of stuff scratching/scuffing it etc.- including the eagle)It now looks 'worn'.

Can you post pics?

[Von Lessel]

I cant host pictures on here but here is a link to 3 pics i have just taken. They are not the best, i will take some tommorow in the daylight and post them up again.

I'm pleased with it, it is enough of a worn look to look used but not to look 60 years old as i dont think it looks right. After all it supposed to be almost new.

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/5...lmet0056qi.jpg
http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/8...met20061ck.jpg
http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/3...met20088xo.jpg

[afrika]

Hey, has anyone tried to apply the semi rough texture as it was used on mid war helmets? I mean not only throwing a handful of sand on the helmet...
Fabian

Yep, I did a couple with mid war texture. Get a bench grinder and a piece of aluminium. Grind the alu down and collect the grindings. Use this to spread over the wet paint, then paint another coat over it. Its the most authentic look you can get. Also correct as they did use filings as roughage.
Then bake as Ade pointed out. Serve hot with lashings of maple syrup and cherries. Tell people that you baked it yourself.
Steve