Camo painted 1938 dated British helmet

[Anthony N]

Picked this up today at the local flea market along with an American helmet. Never seen a camo painted Brit helmet before. Comes with liner dated 1938 & chin strap.
It's a bit of a beater, but as far as i can see the paint has been on for a long long time.
Would be interested in what you guys think.

[Anthony N]

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[Anthony N]

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[Wouter J]

Perfectly alright, and a nice helmet as well. Here's a picture of one in wear, a Canadian soldier at the back of the boat.

[Anthony N]

Thank you very much for the quick answer & the photo too. Always nice to actually see one being worn.

[grndevil44]

nice find ! and even nicer to have a picture of one similar !


cheers

john

[ROBB]

Looks a bit odd to me ,lots of rusty bits ,blue paint , gloss paint , old helmet stacking liner ring mark (in itself not a bad sign) inside bolt on the outside ,looks like it could have been painted 20 years ago and then left outside imo .Rob

[Anthony N]

Interesting thoughts Rob.
I've had several PM's & offers to buy on this one.
I have a rusty German Heer helmet, was taken from the shed of a veteran who had died. Has been on here & OK'd despite the rust.
Not sure about the blue paint thing, half my house has paint where it shouldn't after my painting skills
I'm checking it now & the blue paint is just on one edge, nowhere else on the helmet.

The plot thickens!

[ROBB]

Here is my one used in Anzio . Rob


There is a thread if you search Anzio helmet .

[ROBB]

Here is my one used in Anzio . Rob

another shot

[Beau Brummel.]

I would buy It In a flash.

Rust under paint and paint de-lamination like this are not a sign of wrongdoing per se but rather due to the shells not being thoroughly cleaned and de-greased before painting. Small bubbles will appear and moisture then makes ingress under the paint, especially If this has been left In a shed or some such. An enormous number of helmets hit the marlet some years ago as the result of ministry spring cleaning and one dealer bought hundreds and hundreds. All had been stacked for years and many had camo jobs. Jack or Adrian will remember this as I seem to remember Jack bought some very nice examples.

I understand Rob's caution as he dabbles In the rarefied field of German helmets also and we all know how dangerous that can be. Similarly as prices rise we are seeing an increase In painted British helmets on the market.

Yours, Guy.