....at least in my humble opinion. Thought I'd see what you folks think. This is a pretty standard fare Japanese Type 90 Army helmet, but what I found intriguing about it, (and one of the reasons why I bought it), is that it appears to have been over-painted in a shade of light green, almost identical to the color that I've seen applied to the standard "mustard brown" paint in the form of the so-called "touch up stripe", perhaps in an attempt at blending in better with the environment in which he found himself, or perhaps as a simple field-over-paint, for whatever purpose. Perhaps this soldier decided apparently, that the greenish hue was more conducive to camouflage purposes if he extended it over the entire helmet, to include the interior brim, right up to the edge of the liner (as you can clearly see the thick brush applied strokes in the close ups). Interestingly, the blue Kanji on the interior brim was applied OVER the over-paint. Also of note, is that he apparently intentionally avoided painting over the shell size Kanji character on the interior rear of the helmet....The original mustard brown paint remains beneath the liner. On one side of the helmet, there's an area where the over-paint is worn off, revealing the still-present underlying factory brown paint. The helmet is complete, and I love the look of it, and the patina. A few snaps below and any feedback is welcome. Thanks
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Could be a field camo, a reconditioned helmet or a post war repaint by another country. Nice helmet.Comment
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Hi Jareth. Thanks for commenting. As for it being a reissue from another country, I couldn't begin to imagine where, especially with maintaining all of its Japanese wartime features intact. Maybe I'm being a bit "fanciful" by calling it a camouflage lid, but it was certainly over-painted by hand, and likely in the field, and I'm about as sure as I can be that it was period done during the war and brought home this way. When comparing the color to the "touch up" stripe on a few of my other type 90,s the color of the paint is nearly identical. Also interesting, is that "something" stained the rear (4:00 position) liner pad...I'm always reticent to say something is "blood", but considering that so many Japanese helmets were battlefield pick ups (as opposed to being pulled from a pile of "surrendered" helmets, as was so often the case in the ETO), that the possibility it came off of a KIA is also a consideration. The spot where the paint is scraped off on the other side could have resulted from it hitting the ground hard at some point. Who knows?? I just quite like it, and I'm glad you like it too!Comment
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Nice helmet!
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Thanks Ron. Glad you like it.Comment
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