WW2 British Helmet - paint

[ritchie4]

Pics Posted!

Hello, I have a 1941 dated BMB shell, and like several I have seen it has black paint on the inside and the infantry green on the outer part of the shell, there is not the three holes drilled in the sides to indicate it was a wardens helmet.

I was wondering if anyone knew if these were army helmets and if this kind of paint on helmets is common, or has my helmet been repainted at some point to make it look like an army helmet. It also looks to have 2 layers of green paint on it, a sand paint underneath and a smooth green over top. I will try and post some pics. Thanks.

Ritchie.

[ritchie4]

any thoughts?

[mietek]

In my helmet is opposite situation.
Inside is service brown, outside black.

I bought it as a Warden helmet, but it is stamped WD on the rim.
Liner is 1939.

At some stage MKII-MKIV helmet were repainted black, but when and why? I have seen few examples with black paint.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ritchie, you will need to post some pics for a more definate answer.

An ARP Wardens helmet does not need to have 3 holes in it.

Cheers, Ade.

[ritchie4]

Pics

Heres some pics of the helmet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ritchie...7602397794881/

[ritchie4]

the third pic shows the 2 layers of green paint. one period, one post war?

[ritchie4]

any thoughts on the pictures?

[Mk1rceme]

Nice helmet. My guess would be that it was recirculated into army stores after the war. I'm basing this on the dark green color that it was repainted, usually that color is representative of post-war camoflage colors.

[findabetterole]

Hello 'Ritchie4'...

What you have is a standard issue early war Mk.2 Brodie Steel Helmet with early war 1st pattern chinstrap. If you note below the ring of black paint to the inside of the helmet bowl, the original green paint is apparent. The outer covering of deep grean is post WW.2 to mid 70's.

Your item has obviously led a varied life-span.

It would not take much to restore the helmet to its early war configuration.

Seph

[shadwell1944]

Am I looking at a completely different helmet? What I see is a Mk2 shell originally painted black that's had a repaint post-war in Bronze Green, can't see any sign of 2 shades of green other than where the post-war colour has scratched, nor can I see anything inside the shell that indicates this helmet has been green before it was done on the outside. Chinstrap and liner screw/nut are all mid/late war type which just about fits into a 41 production shell, but could also indicate they were replacement parts when the helmet was repainted. You do see a lot of similar helmets that had been refurbed post war for civil defence and emergency/militia use or sometimes their just collector/reenactor/playtime/film prop repaints. Is the liner dated at all?

[ritchie4]

Hello,
The liner is CCL, dated 1941, same as the helmet. It is hard to see from the pics, but there is definately a layer of olive paint mixed with sand present under the current coat of paint. any suggestions on taking the outer layer of paint off? what are peoples thoughts on this type of restoration?

[ritchie4]

My other question is - was there combat helmets that were green on the outside and black on the inside? I have seen a few like this around, especially early war dated helmets.