West German late 40's eral 50's Helmet - Any Value

[checkit]

Hello - Someone stuck some repro decals on what I have told is a late 40's early 50's West German Shell, Chinstrap and Liner.

Is there any value in trying to convert it back to a Bundesrepublick item (remove the decals, that is)?

[checkit]

2

[Collectinsteve]

I'd say it's certainly worth more correctly presented to a BRD collector than it is falsely badged as it is. Paint seems to be original. Should be fairly easy to get that decal off, I should think. Acetate maybe?

Value of these helmets are a bit unsettled. $40-$60 range is pretty safe, but certain helmets seem to spark more interest. I haven't figured out which ones though.

Age is probably 1950s, but it could be 1960s. I'm not really sure about the particulars, but 1940s is less likely as the Germans weren't doing much on their own at that point.

Steve

[sammlermws]

That's funny you bring this up. I am actually in the process of trying to remove decals on a similar helmet. It was a gift for me that a family member picked up from a gunshow for about $30; they thought it was a good deal for a Wehrmacht helmet.

The decals applied are actually very high quality with a thin layer of lacquer to harden them. I am trying to be gentle starting with a knife blade scratching until I see the green paint. Then gentle rubbing with denatured alcohol. I will later try some very fine sand paper or steel wool to smooth and blend. It is removing some original paint too unfortunatly but I feel that is more acceptable than fake decals on an otherwise nice early BRD helmet.

[Hank]

Acetone will work best, just rub carefully and please do not use a knife or other scraping tool. Could you post a couple of pictures of your helmet ??

[Collectinsteve]

I agree with Hank. You should be able to take it off without abrasive techniques. Whatever adheres the sticker to the paint should be superficial and therefore possible to dissolve. Acetone works much better for such things than rubbing alcohol.

If that doesn't work you can try something stronger, such as nail polish remover. However, you will want to test it near the edge first to make sure it doesn't eat at the paint. And if you do use it, make sure to get it cleared off quickly and neutralized with rubbing alcohol and then water. It's the sort of thing that if allowed to sit will do damage.

Steve

[sammlermws]

I will get some photos of it in the next few days. I couldn't find any markings either on the metal or the liner. Liner is different than the above.

[Gordon Craig]

checkit,

Two ways to look at your problem.

1-can I get the decal off without damaging the paint? and

1a-is the helmet worth less if the paint surface is damaged by removing the decal?

2-Can I get my money back if I sell it like it is?

Personally, I think the chances of you removing the decal without damaging the paint under it are poor to none. A helmet with damaged paint is much less desirable than an undamaged one. Hence of lower value.
Personally, I would leave it alone and try and sell it the way it is.

Regards,

Gordon

[sammlermws]

On my helmet, the paint is damaged now where the decals were but I feel that the helmet is worth more to me personally without the decals. With decals its worthless to me because with the postwar liner its not accurate for reenacting TR. I can touch up the damaged paint area and display it for what it really is in my postwar collection. When I do TR living history I use original shells that have been "restored" with correct/accurate reproduction liners.

The "1944 Militaria" brand applegreen paint is a near perfect match to the original postwar paint on my helmet. I'll post pics when complete.

[Collectinsteve]

I agree that with all the repro WW2 helmets on the market now the old bastardized Polizei helmets aren't wroth much. And a Polizei collector isn't going to be interested in a helmet with such decals on it. This means the value of the helmet is already rock bottom low due to the current state it is in. And if someone wants to repaint the helmet he's going to remove the decals anyway.

Given that this isn't a valuable helmet even in it's original condition, I don't see you having anything to lose by trying a careful removal of the decals. Note that I did say "careful removal"

Steve