Kriegsmarine decals

[colonel1]

Hi all,
I am a new member and basically totally new to militaria. Presently I collect WW2 thru Vietnam sniper rifles. I started to get interested in militaria by accident. I purchased a nice model of the Bismarck and a friend gave me an autographed photo of Bruno Rzonka one of the survivors. That is how it started. Anyway I am presently looking for a nice Kriegsmarine helmet. I need to know what the difference is in early vs. late Kriegs decals and their colors. What is a big foot? Since my interest is in battleships what color helmet was issued to battleship sailors? Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance guys. This is a great website.
Colonel1

[vinter98]

hello there!


i can recommend you this site...

http://german-helmets.com/

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hello Colonel,

first off, welcome to the forums.
KM helmets are sought after beasts...fortunately you have found your way to a forum that has members who have a passion for KM helmets and their decals in particular.

The differences and construction traits of KM decals in contrast to their army cousins are too numerous for me to go into here, but the forum has a wealth of archived information in the form of older threads that will be of great help to you.

One thing is certain however, at some point a dealer (for a variety of innocent and lets be honest devious reasons too) will attempt to sell you an Army helmet that has an age toned Army decal and attempt to pass it off as a KM eagle to maximise his profits.

At the top of the forum you can find the "Search" function. Many a thread here has been devoted to KM decals and their unique characteristics. To get you started here is a small sample of what you can find:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=Km+decal

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=Km+decal

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=Km+decal

Regarding your "bigfoot" query, simply put the decal found on factory issue "Q" marked shells will be an eagle that has particularly distinctive and well....big feet.
This has given the decal its affectionate collector nickname.
Interestingly as i understand it, there isn't such a thing in any collection worldwide as a KM "bigfoot" decal. If you have been offered one be very, very suspicious of the helmet and the source...

Regarding the site that was posted...be careful.It has its uses but take care when considering a purchase.
Use the afore-mentioned search engine and type in the name "Brian Bell".


good luck in your new field,

Patrick.

[Perry Floyd]

Hello Colonel,

first off, welcome to the forums.
KM helmets are sought after beasts...fortunately you have found your way to a forum that has members who have a passion for KM helmets and their decals in particular.

The differences and construction traits of KM decals in contrast to their army cousins are too numerous for me to go into here, but the forum has a wealth of archived information in the form of older threads that will be of great help to you.

One thing is certain however, at some point a dealer (for a variety of innocent and lets be honest devious reasons too) will attempt to sell you an Army helmet that has an age toned Army decal and attempt to pass it off as a KM eagle to maximise his profits.

At the top of the forum you can find the "Search" function. Many a thread here has been devoted to KM decals and their unique characteristics. To get you started here is a small sample of what you can find:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=Km+decal

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=Km+decal

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=Km+decal

Regarding your "bigfoot" query, simply put the decal found on factory issue "Q" marked shells will be an eagle that has particularly distinctive and well....big feet.
This has given the decal its affectionate collector nickname.
Interestingly as i understand it, there isn't such a thing in any collection worldwide as a KM "bigfoot" decal. If you have been offered one be very, very suspicious of the helmet and the source...

Regarding the site that was posted...be careful.It has its uses but take care when considering a purchase.
Use the afore-mentioned search engine and type in the name "Brian Bell".


good luck in your new field,

Patrick.

Patrick pretty much summed it up, I would like to add however on the bigfoot decal so there's no confusion.
The bigfoot decal was an exclusive decal style found on Quist helmets but wasn't the Heer decal used by Quist exclusively. No bigfoot KM decal is known to exist.

[colonel1]

Hi again,
Thanks much for the advice guys. I am searching the site and printing out the information found. Hope everyone has a great new year.
Colonel1