Ha ha! I already know that Sergei can restore this no problem! I will be interested to see the new liner he puts into it.

Welcome aboard C, that is an excellent reason to start collecting GdK!

Just a reminder to all members or potential ones. The registration is no longer "automatic" due to excessive spamming here. All new members need to send me their user name and I will activate them manually or Tony will. Here is my email once again: [email protected]

Excellent pieces, all !! Great helmets. That chin strap Amy is the "ersatz of all ersatz" I have never seen one like it before.

Very cool and very rare, excellent markings. Congratulations Bruno!

My thanks also Karel for all your work in reposting these pictures!

Excellent, I love the crown and monogram, I have never seen that before.

Not a bad little collection T.

It boils down to what you as the collector can live with.

In 40 years of collecting, I have never seen one of these for sale.

Thanks Philippe for some great fotos and an education on fakes and originals!

So true...I was educated in Imperial measurement...Feet, inches, fahrenheit but my country Canada, switched to metric probably 20 years ago. Despite this, I still think in the old system, when I am in the US, I totally identify with their use of the old cumbersome measurement of length and temperatu...

Great markings but where can one ever find an original wappen to complete the helmet ?

Another recent attempt:71ukty_3 wrote:25 May 2019 12:28 pm Hello. We are glad to inform you that your E-mail address is selected as a prize, you can get a reward by clicking on this link https://bit.ly/2JCKecL Best regards and congratulations again on your win Again, this is completely bogus, we do ...

Great pics of a classic example of the Officer M15 helmet. Excellent!

All I know Bill, is that George Birringer told me years ago that he used the natural shellac flakes and that was good enough for me. I saw examples of crap finish jobs using the pre made box store “jug” sh.t which basically in my opinion, ruined helmets. I have never used it. As a long time bar band...

The fill in process has begun:

Here is a what I use Bill, unfortunately there is no list of chemical contents on the label: https://photos.smugmug.com/Before-Helmet-Restprations/i-9sD85BK/0/5494ff5b/L/IMG_0692-L.jpg Lee Valley is a widely respected company up here in the North, they produce two or three catalogues of their wares ...

The work on the outside finish of the 126th helmet was begun today. First, a light sanding of visors and shell then a cotton ball wet with lacquer thinner is used to melt the dust into the crazings and smooth things out. https://photos.smugmug.com/Before-Helmet-Restprations/i-6CBV4qv/0/6d9a1f48/L/IM...

Thank you Amy, I have only had one major catastrophe....involving a Hessen officer helmet that was left too long hydrating in the plastic bag. I forgot about it and came back to a real mess! There was mold growing on the calfskin liner, missing finish, collapsed shell. :( Fortunately, the master res...

Replacing missing finish would be up to the owner Sandy. It could be done but would take time and added cost.

No problem Sandy. John, thank you for your praise and trusting me to work on your helmets! Both visors are now back on the 126th helmet: https://photos.smugmug.com/Before-Helmet-Restprations/i-vTSPDMb/0/e16456a5/XL/IMG_0675-XL.jpg I will be cleaning fittings in the next few days. The helmet was very...

The JR 126 helme is small , a size 54cm. fittings were very oxidized, brown in colour. Both visors on this piece had been glued on by a previous owner. Fortunately, the glue was only applied in 2 spots and not along the whole width of the visors. Glue residue was removed before restitch. The rear of...

Here are the markings: https://photos.smugmug.com/Before-Helmet-Restprations/i-XLBTWrP/0/1844cd60/L/IMG_0647-L.jpg 119.R 1905 Completed visor stitch. The process always has to be finished off with black shoe polish along the stitch line, primarily because stitching causes finish to break off and the...

As I have mentioned previously, one of the very cool things about restoration is that for some reason, people send me their helmets to work on. As such, unlike most of you, I get to work on some pretty rare and expensive leather hats. I take them apart and that can be pretty scary at times because I...

Yes, this one is similar, a true original Saxon.

My condolences Pete but at least you did not lose any of the collection...books will dry out. The main thing is that the collection was spared! My small collection is in a room a storey and a half up. So unless we have a Biblical flood I will be ok. My house was built in 1920...a hand dug basement s...

Ha ha! No freebies here!

True but if you look at period photos they wore cloth covers on these helmets to prevent the “shine”.

We booked yesterday using Hotels. Com and saved $140 CN.

Excellent, congrats! Yet another variation on this style helmet. They usually have the undyed liner in my experience.

Yes indeed Bill, you have been away far too long, great to have you back with us!

I just received a PM from a member who received a bogus email supposedly from Admin: Important message from the forum administration! https://bit Delete message Report private message Quote message Sent: Sat May 25, 2019 6:25 am From: Is8ihfhen Recipient: MG34NZ Hello. We are glad to inform you that...

Looks great! A very innovative use for shipping containers, well done

Congratulations, I agree with Pete, just a light cleaning to remove anything that could possibly create problems in the future.

That looks very cool...one wonders why the sudden interest in WW1 by movie makers?? God knows WW2 has gotten the most attention.

Been there and did that 12 years ago. At one time, I had 53 hauben, I am down to 24 now. I had a complete mannequin to a named CEF WW1 48th Highlander everything from Bonnet right down to parade spats, kilts, red argyle socks, housewife and medals, purchased from a family member. A cuff ranked Capt ...

James: Most times I have no problem expressing my thoughts but this loss of Paul is so shocking, so unimaginable, we were all together as usual, having fun at the SOS in February, now this and he is gone! Whenever I think of this I just shake my head in disbelief, life can be so cruel sometimes. Car...

White trichter

Fantastic detail, very impressive! You are obviously a master modeller!

New Old Stock, fantastic condition!

Wow!! Those are fantastic, I have only seen these in the WW1 black and white movies of Joffre, Petain etc. Congrats!

Yes Mathew, like George, I make my own shellac from flakes and I dye it. I do not use store bought shellac. Years ago there was another collector in my area who tried to do refinishing using the commercial stuff and he made a real mess of a couple of helmets....it ran everywhere! Good idea about the...

Some photos of where we are at now on this restoration: https://photos.smugmug.com/Before-Helmet-Restprations/i-4xVSjCH/0/2ca5f9d8/L/IMG_0629-L.jpg The rear visor has been straightened successfully. https://photos.smugmug.com/Before-Helmet-Restprations/i-CmWNB7n/0/5b5f8e80/L/IMG_0630-L.jpg This helm...

A very rare photo indeed Alan, thank you for posting.

Yes, there was a brief trade war between ourselves and Uncle Sam, fortunately cooler heads prevailed and we are back to normal now. Yes we will have some Wisconsin cheese in our grocery coolers...big whoop! The state of Wisconsin produces more cheese than all of Canada combined.....MAGA.

Hmmm......"Fatty Spue" a new phrase to add to my vocabulary! I wonder though, how I will be able to work that into "cocktail conversation" over a nice glass of Merlot or Cab Sauv?? :D Mike, your avatar reminds me to announce here that I am in need of an officer Garde Stern to complete a neusilber of...

I would just like to add here that with lacquer/shellac, we are dealing with a natural product produced by an insect, the female Lac bug largely found in a special type of tree growing in India. Consequently, I tend to think that we are talking about some sort of chemical reaction, a clouding of the...

Very interesting, I have learned something new. There are always surprises in this hobby. I suppose the talc was used to absorb humidity much like those small packets of crystals which we always find in new electronics, cameras etc. I have never encountered an as new helmet.

I have never heard that story before and I have been collecting hauben since the 1980’s. There are private purchase Officer helmets where the shell is made of lacquered felt and the visors stitched on. Any talc powder in my opinion might be some sort of chemical reaction after 100 years. At the same...