Restoring a WW2 M1 Helmet 

Bro their Was Original paint

Steve Mr W that’s a good idea, thank you.

@@worldwarguy459 better idea for stress cracks use solder it's better then jb weld but I realized there both metal lol

Can u send me the video?

@@thefbiiswatching9251 he deleted it sadly. I am sorry that I can't help you

Sander Visser Well, can u tell me how to do it?

@@thefbiiswatching9251 WW2FREAK001 did it with a m1 helmet. You take a brown wood stain (preferably a dark colour, mine was a bit more red) and brush it on the helmet. Let it dry for a long time because it will be sticky for a few hours/days.

Wood stain wash on a restored MKII helmet feom 1941 imgur.com/a/Mm5gBr5 It makes it look weathered like with a wash on a scale model. Mine is a bit red because it was mahogany stain and WW2FREAK001 used dark walnut stain I guess. I used some gravel to create a realistic scratch pattern and used dried mud/ ash on it (which I washed away). It is still my first helmet I restored but I learned a lot from it. What type helmet are you restoring?

Thank you for the help

Thank you for the help!

Hi past self some advice never use sand

@@thIDthIRreenactor lmao 😂 how did that work out lol

@@jakegww2inaction544 well I did it on my shit repro m1 so I dont care but I got an OG ww2 m1 so I dont need to worry

That was a steal

David must scream in his sleep

Yes I do my parents make me sleep outside and lock the doors with foam

@@Davidmemes195 let’s just go play trampoline

Dropkick*

Hell yeah with garden rock too!!!!

@Yeza yes they did. It was quite common with us army troops in the Pacific.

Does it look like one of those jungle liners? Are you also in r/militariacollecting?

@Yeza yes they did paint them, there are numerous examples of Pacific Theater camo painted helmets

Andy Kennard thank you

Why wouldn't it be

Because it's a post war m1 helmet

@@thIDthIRreenactor well, depends on your group standards - I'm not well versed in M1s, so I dunno the differences. To someone who kinda knows about WW2 and US equipment, theyre indistinguishable and I'm sure it would be fine to most units, but then again there are some German units which allow M43 tunics to Stalingrad events and some which don't allow you to have your insignia 1mm away from where it needs to be. So ask your unit, otherwise it should be good.

Ok well the differences are the seamed nail because a ww2 m1 is seamed in the front and a korean war m1 is seamed in the back to the right and a Vietnam m1 is seamed in middle back mines a korean war m1

Repaint it with corect paint and get accurate chinstraps

frogsgottalent this helmet was not in a good condition, it wasn’t a collector grade helmet, the paint was bad, and stress cracks don’t increase the value. There were hundreds of thousands of these helmets made and many of them are already in museums, private collections, or have yet to be found. It’s better to restore a beat up helmet and bring it back to life rather than to let it sit and be forgotten since not many people would buy this helmet. It’s like restoring an old car. Better to make it look factory new than to let it rust away into history.

A helmet doesn’t have to be in ‘ good ‘ condition to be collectable. The stress cracks don’t make it any less valuable than one without cracks. Just because a helmet has imperfections, does not detract from its value as a historic item. In fact, many of the better historical items have seen service/action, rather than a pristine example that has sat in a box. Just because a helmet is dented/cracked/ rust points, does not detract from its value as a historical exhibit. I garantee that every front seam/fixed bail you tamper with, that you devalue the helmet. As to cars, again your idea of collecting is very subjective. It’s your helmet, wreck as many as you please, there’s no law against it.

frogsgottalent I’m not saying there is a law to it. It’s simple, many, if not most, collectors like to have good items in good condition rather than in bad condition. This helmet has bad paint and the stress cracks are not because of combat use, but of bad production of earlier helmets ( which is why many post war helmets don’t have stress cracks). If there is no history behind the specific item, it then all depends on the condition. This helmet has no known history behind it, and the damage to it does not explain anything besides bad paint and cracks. Therefore, the helmet is only interesting if it’s in good condition because of the lack of history, it is just seen as a beat up helmet that happens to be produced earlier in the war.

@frogsgottalent he is allowed to restore it it’s not yours it’s his he paid for it I like how he’s restored it.

+ Kyle the child. How old are you, 5 ? But yes, he is entitled to destroy anything that he has purchesed. I was politely informing him that he is devaluing pieces of history eg: paying disrespect and not “ restoring “ anything. Just wrecking helmets with JB Weld and other garbage. But yes, he can wreck important items if he chooses. Signed , a Helmet Collector.

Both

Yea I'd say it's a 42 dated m1 I have a 900 range swivel bale McCord from june 44

Zombie3beast I just stitched them normally. No special stitch.

how and why

1: with paint remover 2: in the future it might cause the new paint to chip and flake more easily

@@JohnsonTheSecond if you don't remove the paint then the finish does not look uniform

Paul Lemieux okay, then post a video about it so that I can learn how to do better.

cody mckernan I don’t have anything for sale. Not sure how you got a plastic one, are you sure you didn’t buy a liner?

It may have been a reproduction helmet liner, but I know that the real ones are wood, not sure if there where any plastic liners or not

cody mckernan helmet liners have never been made of wood. M1 helmet liners were made of fiberglass. It sounds like yours was a reproduction.

Thankyou for your help

James Warner no visible markings inside of the helmet. And I show the paint I use in the video.

@@worldwarguy459 what's the heat stamp because I have a stamp chart

does the front of the m1 have a seam? and what color chin straps are they ?

It’s a dark-ish greenish

@@The_pioneer80 is there a front seam ?

Zombie3beast its a side seam oooooooo

Jerimaya Myers JMurray

@@worldwarguy459 Thanks

@@worldwarguy459 Another question can you list all the things you did to cork your m1 helmet? Because I think that you did a very good job on it and I'd like to do the same.

Jerimaya Myers watch the video, I show what I did.

Paul Lemieux lol, I never put corn anywhere in this video.

@@worldwarguy459 he ment cork

Hbly Mnchz they hold the chinstraps.

@@worldwarguy459 ❤ u

have you ever looked at real deadstock ww2 M1 helmets? They are covered in cork

@@johncataloni8552 yes, I have 3

@@minimusmax great, I have over 30

@@johncataloni8552 great, then you should know better.

@@johncataloni8552 max is right, though. You used far too much cork. Good job getting offended!

Sade has some good songs.

learn English before you type

*messed

Paul Lemieux what do knots have to do with this?