Restoring Japanese Helmets

[mcmike]

Restoring some Type 90s and could use some guidance:

1. Paint colors for NLF and IJA helemts: any recommendations? Have looked at plenty of pictures, but of course these are all 60+year old helmets, & colors change. Has anyone found a successful paint fomula for these colors?

2. Hardware: Have self-maunufactured the half loops and rivets for the inner helmet to which are attached the chinstrap rings. Need source for the larger split rivets or facsimile, or manufacturing tips. Also source for chinstrap rings or reasonable facsimile.

I realize that some are concerned with restored helmets being sold as original. This should not restrain us from sharing restoration tips as realistically as possible. Thank you for your ideas!

[magicdutchmen]

I realize that some are concerned with restored helmets being sold as original. This should not restrain us from sharing restoration tips as realistically as possible.

I don't think this is the correct place to discuss this.

[mcmike]

I don't think this is the correct place to discuss this.

Yeah, I can see your point. What do helmets have to do with militaria? But this is better than my first choice, which was to post it on the Lithuanian Military Forum. Man, those guys don't know squat about Japanese helmets.

[mcmike]

Well, Mike, perhaps you can share your "Handy Helmet tip o' the day" with us. By the way , fascinating topic!

[mcmike]

Thanks, Mike! Why yes, I do happen to have a tip that I would like to share with all my pals, even with the Hollanderanian guy.

Those little half-loop-thingies inside the Type 90 Japanese helmet that hold the little rings that hold the chinstraps that only 3 people in the world know how to tie. Yeah, take that up to Home Depot and ask for half a dozen of those puppies. They just look at you funny, and then one of them peed down my leg. I have even asked people who actually LIVE in Japan, and even THEY don't know where to get them. And those guys know way more about this than those Luthuanian guys.

So then my keen mind kicked into gear, and I went to the HD hardware area and bought a slender steel rod about 3 feet long and 1/16" or 3/32" in diameter. This item I then took to my very own house, put it on a thick iron plate I use as an anvil, and commenced to beat hell out of it with a ball-peen hammer to flatten one end, just like on the real half-loop thingies. Got nowhere. Got out my trusty propane torch and heated it up red hot and then beat the hell out of it again, with great gusto. Nothing.

Went back to Home Depot and bought a foot of thick gauge copper electrical wire for $1.25 plus 8.25% tax, brought it home, skinned it, beat the crap outta it with ball-peen hammer, and sure-enough flattened it good. So, having measured the real little-half-loop-thingy I was then able to cut it to the right length, flatten the other end, drill little holes in with a little drill bit, and I then had before me a geniuine looking little-half-loop-thingy that even Tojo's mama wouldn't know from the real thing. I only had to make 9 of them to end up with three that were usable.

And that's my story for today, buckaroos. Maybe now you can share your very own helmet restoration tips, too! Sharing is caring.

[RussellM]

Mike, I can't offer you any tips apart from what I've read on this forum - Japanese helmet restoration is very difficult! However, I did enjoy your story!

Regards
Russ

[mcmike]

Mike, I can't offer you any tips apart from what I've read on this forum - Japanese helmet restoration is very difficult! However, I did enjoy your story!

Regards
Russ

Thank you, Russ. Obviously you are a man of letters. On a totally unrelated subject, I have come into a RARE BARN FIND OUT OF THE WOODWORK VETERAN's BASEMENT in JAPAN, discovered under a pile of Hirohito Kawasaki baseball cards from 1947, a cache of original, 1943, copper colored half-loop-helmet-thingies which were misplaced by the Honda Helmet and 1000 Stitch Belt Conglomerate. These authentic and rare items are available only from me for $50U.S. each! You will need 3 for a set. Check me out at e-stand.

And Russ, please do not come back to this thread unless you are going to be big enough to share helmet ideas. Thank you. I'm sorry I have to be this way. The Holland guy got to me.

[RussellM]

Oh, yes, the HH1KSBC, I'd almost forgotten about them. That find would rank up there equally with the original un-used 1000 stitches I found from them some time ago. When I find the pic, I'll post it.

Regards
Russ

[mcmike]

See the possibilities???

Oh, yes, the HH1KSBC, I'd almost forgotten about them. That find would rank up there equally with the original un-used 1000 stitches I found from them some time ago. When I find the pic, I'll post it.

Regards
Russ

See what can happen when we work together? Russ almost sent in a picture of his HH1KSBC 1000 stitch belt! He only bought it because I bought a 998 stitch belt. Unfortunately, this belt wasn't real lucky for the wearer; he took a Marine grenade in his Showa 17 underwear.

Meanwhile I have been deluged with literally several e-mails from Holland, Lithuania, and Fort Worth asking for more info on how to restore your Japanese Helmet, which we are not going to call a Jap helmet even tho' it is easier to type.

They really would like to know more about the Vet Bring-Back Rare Barnfind-in-a-Japanese-Barn-Out-O-The-woodwork-Japanese-guy's-basement helmet-half-loop-thingies-which-hold-the-ring-that-holds-the-chinstrap-which-only-Nick-knows-how-to-tie.

Rumor has , or the vet's wife told me, that these were stored deep in a cave under Surabachi, and were smuggled out on a midget Japanese submarine just before the invasion by two NLF marines who didn't really give a crap about dying for the Emporer. It was late in the war, and that is why they were letting midgets captain submarines.

THey were then sent to Okinawa, which wasn't the luckiest move ever. Fortunately they came into the possession of a Japanese civilian who was tricked into jumping off of a cliff by an IJN guy who had just sold her 5,000 shares of stock in the Bridge On THe River Kwai Railroad and Funtime Weight Loss Farm. As luck would have it, she landed in a rowboat occupied by those very self-same two NLF guys who don't give a crap about the Showa, and were still trying to get back to Japan.

So then... If forgot. but it is very interesting. Russ, where are those pictures?

[RussellM]

Well, I finally found the pic, but unfortunately I had to let the item go some time ago on ebay. There was quite a bidding war on it actually - sort of made me realise I should have kept it. Hard to see in the pic, but it had developed a nice patina, making it more desirable to collectors, as evidenced by the high price it went for. Anyway, here it is - genuine, un-used 1000 stitches.

Regards
Russ

[magicdutchmen]

Well, Mike, perhaps you can share your "Handy Helmet tip o' the day" with us. By the way , fascinating topic!

I still don't agree with you Mike. Helmets regardless of their condition should be left in their original state. Or, do you want to give the fakers and tossers a great headsup on how to restore a thai re-issue so they can sell it off as original. Really superb!!

[mcmike]

Well, I finally found the pic, but unfortunately I had to let the item go some time ago on ebay. There was quite a bidding war on it actually - sort of made me realise I should have kept it. Hard to see in the pic, but it had developed a nice patina, making it more desirable to collectors, as evidenced by the high price it went for. Anyway, here it is - genuine, un-used 1000 stitches.

Regards
Russ

On the original Showa 87 albino bamboo spool, I might add. What the hell does htis have to do with helmet restoration (?), you might well be asking. Frankly, who cares? I really liked the "un-used 1000 stitches" joke!

[magicdutchmen]

On the original Showa 87 albino bamboo spool, I might add. What the hell does htis have to do with helmet restoration (?), you might well be asking. Frankly, who cares? I really liked the "un-used 1000 stitches" joke!

People care when money is involved. Reproductions and fakes are part of the militaria trading deal but do we really have to hand the tips and tricks on a silver platter. Knowledge is power but in this case a downfall.

[mcmike]

People care when money is involved. Reproductions and fakes are part of the militaria trading deal but do we really have to hand the tips and tricks on a silver platter. Knowledge is power but in this case a downfall.

Properly chastised, now I feel bad. When I repaint my crappy old Japnese-come-Thai helmet, I will remember that I have helped with the downfall of civilization as we know it.

Just remember, if it weren't for people like my father, you wouldn't be able to type in English now. O.K., so my father didn't really do anything about that whole WWII thing. But if he wasn't wearing a dress he would have deifinitely be in that Bridge too Far thing. Then where would you be?

Think about it.

[RussellM]

I think there is a difference between restoration (using original parts), restoration using whatever you can fabricate, and conversion. Although I don't know a great deal about Japanese helmets, there seems to be quite a difference between an original Japanese helmet and an already converted one, particularly to the attachments holding the liner and chinstrap. Others with more experience may comment, but I think it would be quite noticable if one of these was converted back from Thai to Japanese. Likely the paint would be wrong and fresh, maybe some holes filled from the attachments etc. Possibly non-original rings and rivets that Mike was referring to, and trying to find an original liner appears to be very difficult. I stand to be corrected but restoration techniques already employed by some collectors may be useful information for those wishing to attempt such an undertaking. Restoration or conversion efforts (I assume) are likely to be visible, unless all original parts are used, but I'm sure experienced helmet collectors would be able to tell the difference.

Regards
Russ