IJN landing force 1918 helmet - value?

[Gran Sasso]

Could anybody help me with that one?

[Jareth]

Need better photos. From what I see it looks like an aged repro.

[Gran Sasso]

Need better photos. From what I see it looks like an aged repro.

Some more:

[Gran Sasso]

And more:

[Gran Sasso]

Last I have:

[Jareth]

http://www.gunboards.com/sites/banza...olub/Holub.htm compare stitching on liner band. Please post close up of insignia. Painted kanji doesn't look like real Japanese. Looks fake to me.

[Nick Komiya]

Instead of 1918, these are known as the first of the 3 variations of the 1922 helmet, commonly known as the cherry blossom helmet. The 1922 model was last produced in 1931 and the Army discontinued them from use in China in 1932 and sold 1700 of them to the Navy to help them out in the 1932 Shanghai Incident, which the navy named the Model 2 helmet to distinguish them from the Brodie-like Model 1 helmet they had till then. Being the first type of the 1922 model means it started life as an army helmet and would have gone through about 10 years of use before being repainted to the navy grey. It just doesn't have that look. Also these helmets were normally hand painted with heavy brush marks, which this doesn't have either to say nothing of the stange writing, which is no Japanese.

[NLF]

repro anchor

[Gran Sasso]

Auction ended - looks like someone lost 402,-EUR...