"Excuse Me, Sir, Did I Just Sit on Your Schirmmütze?"

[DonC]

All, through the good offices of WAF members Kurt and GIJoe I was able to obtain the Erel visor of Oberstabsveterinär Dr. Paul Thomas, KIA in Russia in 1942. The visor was in excellent condition save for some mothing on the carmine piping, and the fact that it had either been crushed in a trunk or sat on at some point - the pasteboard interior was cracked like an eggshell:

[DonC]

I decided to try to bring Dr. Thomas' cap "back from the dead" with a little invasive surgery. First, an idea of the damage: About 1/3 of the pasteboard was broken and loose, and there was another 1/3 that was cracked but still attached to the cap body. The thread you see in the pic below is the actual thread that held the lining in. Amazingly, after 70 years, it was still strong. I saved it for later...

[DonC]

I went to the local hobby store and bought a sheet of black cardstock that matched the pasteboard in color, but was a bit thinner and flimsier. I used the largest piece of full-width pasteboard that was loose to measure and cut out three lengths of cardstock, then tripled it up to approximately the thickness of the pasteboard, misted it with water from a hand sprayer, and then rubber banded it to allow it to take on a curved shape.

After it had dried, I fitted it to the interior of the cap and stretched it so that it held the remaining pastebord in its original position and filled in for what was missing:

[DonC]

The hardest part by far was re-stiching the liner, which took about an hour and a half - I tried to match the original holes with the thread, because, once again, even after seventy years that lining material was tough to get a needle through. The pleats held their form very well, which I was the most worried about, but all are back to their original shape and place. I have even more respect for 1940's German materials and craftsmanship now.

[DonC]

The payoff was when I flipped the cap over for the first time - it really felt like Christmas morning:

[DonC]

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did bringing that cap back.

Don

[Karl S.]

Beautiful restoration job Don. Ben has some competition now.

[DonC]

I am just a poor imitation of Ben's genius, Karl.

Don

[wolfslair]

Very well done - the final outcome looks great. Congrats
Steve

[dasboot2011]

Fantastic job!

[Explorer]

Congrats, Don. Visor is a killer!

[billbert]

Well done Sir !! Billbert

[BenVK]

You've done an excellent job there Don, I'm really impressed.
How did you fix the ends of the cardstock together?

[DonC]

I initially stapled them in two places to hold it in place and then used thick black thread, Ben.

I don't know why but I love these restored ones more than a stone mint cap - I guess it's just pride in bringing something back to what it once was. I was lucky that the cap materials themselves were still sound other than the pasteboard. If they weren't, I probably would have been screwed. Plus, I got an up close and personal look at the guts of a nice pre/early war Erel - they really are a work of art!

Don

[BenVK]

I don't know why but I love these restored ones more than a stone mint cap - I guess it's just pride in bringing something back to what it once was.

Can totaly relate to that my friend.