Ss Camo M35

[Dan T]

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[Dan T]

Full shot. The decal seems very bright in this pic compared to the close up later.

[Dan T]

Reverse side. Note the outline of the party shield and in fact there are remnants left of it in the top left corner.

[Dan T]

You may be able to see it better here.

[Dan T]

Close up of SS dec. Sorry this attachment is so large but the best I could do to get sharp detail for your discerning eyes!
Note the rust particles and the scratches seem comparable to the rest of the helmet and honest.

[Ty Smith]

Looks like the paint on this helmet may have been sanded off. The wear marks seem a bit odd to me. Otherwise it looks aged. The decal is certainly not an obvious fake. There are several things about it that look correct to me. I only see a few potential problems regarding its shape. We'll see what the others say.

[Perry Floyd]

I allready have my opinions on it but I'll hold back to let others have a go...
Here's a smaller shot of the decal to help..

[Perry Floyd]

Dan do you have a pic of the inside?
Thanks....Perry

[Dan T]

Sure Perry. The liner is not early but I never worry too much about that. Re lining helmets was a fairly standard routine practice throughout the war with fair wear and tear along with the rotting in damp conditions.

[Dan T]

Here's another shot of the decal in sunlight which gives it a bit more "life".
There is a combat eastern front engineer wearing a similar camo lid on page 54 of German Soldiers of WW2 in colour by Histoire collections.

[Dan T]

decal

here we are

[Ken B.]

Ok, I'll take a stab at it. First of all the decal does not have the same age patina as the helmet itself. And the white background has that broken glass effect. Too sparkly. And the white is into the black boarder too much. Am I in the neighborhood?

Ken

[Perry Floyd]

Dan not trying run you to death but can you take a closer pic inside? The glare and distance on your liner shot hides too much detail..

[Jean-Loup]

Hello
I am not qualified to know about the authenticity of the decals, but the SS one was 'dug out'. All in all the camo is a bit strange. Maybe it was sanded down? Maybe its post war?
There are some wear marks that are very strange, looking just like the ones one the total repaint fakes.
JL

[Dan T]

Thanks for the replies so far guys although it hasn’t been positive. The age patina on the decal does match the helmet IMHO. I’m not sure why the opposite view has been taken. The rust on the helmet is comparable with the toning of the decal. And it is rust in the decal not the honey/yellow tinge you see with the repros.
I am not a beginner with helmets but wouldn’t class myself as an expert. I did though read up and handle as many helmets as poss and listen to older collectors. The decal shows the correct metallic content and I am aware of the “too sparkly” Czech copies.
I first saw them in mid 1997 in London and yes they did make me look twice. That was the first time I had seen a copy with a metallic granular content. Previous to that had been water slides but some of those looked pretty good to the untrained eye.
Camo is difficult to authenticate but to me this is not one of the modern re spays and shows honest wear at the points I would expect to see. Colours can vary and it was only later in Normandy that some standardisation occurred as they were spraying on vehicle paint.
Most fakes I have seen use the camo to “mask” some of the decal’s weaker points e.g. the bullet bottom.
Here’s one on majorplm’s site. That camo looks the same as mine to me and doesn’t look strange.
http://www.majorplm.com/collections/...0.SD.camo.html
Also most but not all repros seem to be on M40 or M42 lids as most M35s had some original decals applied in the first place. Of course the ones that didn’t soon got fake ones put on post war anyway!
When was the last time you saw a no dec un touched M35?? Most have been ruined post war.
I have noticed that fakers go for double decs to improve the value. I must admit I have never seen a fake helmet with remnants of the party shield the other side. Whether mine had the SS dec dug out is a matter of conjecture but it seems to me that the trooper who had this helmet, complied with the 1942 order to remove decals by scrubbing off the party dec and painting round the SS one. A sense of pride?
I mean, if you going to dig out the SS decal then you’d dig out the party one too wouldn’t you?
I cannot feel the borders of this decal with my fingertips unlike some of the best fakes which still have the “thickness” which originals do not possess.
Here’s a fake decal that has the broken glass effect. This series however had thick borders. Look at the corners.
Not sure what details you need on the liner Perry but it doesn’t have the aluminium hardware of the early ones. Definitely re-linered but period in my opinion.