Decal Help

[wbarringer]

My weakest spot when working with helmets is working with decals. I've read the books, but it's still hard for me to see (especially when some of the best books don't have color pictures).

I was wondering what some of the best ways to identify good and bad decals are. Is there a certain book you turn to, or is it more experience? Are there certain dead give-aways? I've noticed other people are asking the same questions as I am, so I was wondering if some of the members of the forum would share how to be able to spot a fake decal, and where to go if you're not sure.

[dubs_28]

well through my expertisssssssse of long and hard research through numerous years of study i have learned that decals are no fun. <------period

lots of luck

dubs_28

[Jim McCauley]

I guess it's more of a learned skill than something you can learn from books. Many books show fakes as originals!

There are some decal rules that for the most part are true. Then again there are always exceptions. There are also a few decals that are seldom seen and seem to cause confusion when they show up on a helmet.

Handling originals and asking questions are probably the best way to learn.

Regards,

Jim

[gadaru_kanaru]

Handling originals and asking questions are probably the best way to learn.

The only problem with that is that it takes several hundred thousand dollars to acquire the helmets in order to handle them. Unless you know some collectors who loan their collections out.....

Asking questions can be rather futile because many on this forum refuse to divulge information to the masses because they fear the fakers will use the info to better their bogus products.

[wbarringer]

I was afraid of that, but it's definitely a legitimate concern.

[Paul B]

In addition to Jim's excellent advice, I would add the following...

Before you buy anything, spend a few $ on reference books. A good starter library for a helmet collector would include:

"The History of the German Steel Helmet" by Baer (Bender Publishing, 2nd edition)
"Combat Helmets of the Third Reich" Volumes 1 and 2 by Thomas Kibler and Robert Iqbal -both of these gentlemen post on this helmet forum.
"Le Casque Allemande" by Philippe LeTonturuer -French text, but superb photos.

Apart from Baer, these are all pretty inexpensive, and feature good colour photos of decals and other elemnts of WWII helmets. You might also want to join this German helmet forum www.zline.eu

Use the search facility on this forum -there are helmets posted on here that you'll never see in books, and a wealtho f knowledge and experience that would fill several volumes.

As a new collector you might weant to start with the more common items like single decal Heers (although they are faked as well -I saw a dubious decal on a M42 at a UK fair last month) rather than high-end items where the repros can be very scary indeed. Also, although many non-standard items are legit, when you're new it probably best not to stray far from the accepted norm in terms of helmets.

In short, be well-educated before you start spending -it can be confusing at first as some books are contradictory or wrong, and even some museums have dubious pieces on show, but with experience you'll come to tell the good info from the bad.

Good luck in your collecting

Paul.

Aside from the graphical quality of the decals (buy a good jeweller's loop, so you can see them close-up) learn about how they were made and applied to the helmets in the first place, how they age and how the lacquer on lacquered decals can age over time.

[Jim McCauley]

The only problem with that is that it takes several hundred thousand dollars to acquire the helmets in order to handle them. Unless you know some collectors who loan their collections out.....

Asking questions can be rather futile because many on this forum refuse to divulge information to the masses because they fear the fakers will use the info to better their bogus products.

No need to buy them all. I wish I could! Try to go to shows. Most dealers don't mind you handling the helmets as long as you ask first. See if there are any other collectors in your area. Most of us don't mind showing our collections to interested people.

As for giving away secrets, I don't think most collectors feel that way. I know some do.

Good luck.

Jim

[THChick]

I guess it's more of a learned skill than something you can learn from books. Many books show fakes as originals!

There are some decal rules that for the most part are true. Then again there are always exceptions. There are also a few decals that are seldom seen and seem to cause confusion when they show up on a helmet.

Handling originals and asking questions are probably the best way to learn.

Regards,

Jim

Not only do some of the books show the fakes but starting back as far as the 60's people would take original decals and apply them on helmets, more commonly an M42, for example and apply an original Luft decal and it is tough to tell if it is post war applied because they did it so well.

Just my two cents

[wbarringer]

Thanks to everyone who's contributed some advice so far. I think that's really what I was looking for, as well as references.

I do have a specific question about decals: were there any oversized decals? I have a tri-color national shield decal that is 45 mm x 36 mm and, if the time period on the helmet is right, it would have been produced in early 1934/early 1935. I don't know what to think of it.