A new Lachmann helmet

USMC-EOD

USMC-EOD

Active member
Hi Gents.

I got lucky on Ebay and bought a pretty cool M-1915 Lachmann cuirassier helmet for a good price. Unfortunately (fortunately???) the previous owner had painted the entire exterior of the shell black and painted the wappen and removable spike gold. I could tell from the pictures in the ad that the liner appeared to be in good shape and the trim still was gray in color-a good sign. I think the paint kept the bidding low, but I was still pretty surprised when I won, considering what these things are going for these days.

If I had been smart last weekend, I would have taken some before and after photos while I was cleaning it up. However, the helmet as I got it can be seen if you type in Ebay item number 130302848317.

I think the paint actually protected the finish on the shell and all other parts before I removed it. An observation I made concerning this helmet was that the liner retaining brads are actually braised onto the sides rather than being separate pieces like on my M-1915 C.E. Junker and Damaschke cuirassier helmets. The wappen and edge trim appears to be gray parkerized, as are the spike base and rivets. The spike is painted a gray-green color like Tony reported on an earlier thread concerning this manufacturer.

I have attached a few pictures of the cleaned-up helmet and one picture of my Damaschke M-1915 helmet next to it to show the cotrast between the two types of manufacturing styles. Please forgive my photography; if I could only handle a camera as readily as my issued weapon!

I also included a shot of a couple of leather wappen wedges which fit together perfectly and have a manufacturers' stamp on the back side. I thought they were interesting and something which I have never seen a manufacturer do before in my other enlisted helmets. I would be interested in finding out if anyone else has ever seen this before?

R/S

Bryan.
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very nice especially the wedges. Here is the before photo, that has to be the best buy on a Lachmann,
Gus
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one of my favorite helmets, I was watching this one as well and chickened out on the paint. You did very well and saved a great helmet.

Congrats!!

James
 
Congratualtions, Bryan! Your Lachmann is stunning.

What stripper did you use for removing the enamel paint?

Since Tony pulled out his, here is mine (wait, that sounds a bit randy :oops: ):

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Chas
 
Lost Skeleton said:
Congratualtions, Bryan! Your Lachmann is stunning.

'What stripper did you use for removing the enamel paint?'

.....................................................

Whoever she was she did a great job! :D

But seriously, thats a nice helmet - well done!!
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Hi all,

Just read this interesting article and thought I'd post a few observations from the 2No. M.1915 Lachman's in my collection:

Small 2.5mm rivet fixing the 3rd lobsterscale to the rear shell of the helmet.

Decorative rivets to front and rear peaks - all are "tight to edge of edge trim".

Spun (as opposed to pressed - helmet shell - check out photos).

"Flat" top to helmet shell (refer to other manufacturers for a comparison).

Squat "perpendicular" side viewed profile to rear lobstertail - vertical, not gently curved.

Most versions have the smaller cockades - I believe this is correct - has anyone a contemporary photo?

Helmet plate is of a very distinct varient (please look carefully at the proportions of the wappen)

Very distinct front and rear visor design - wide proportions and somewhat wide spacing between the rivets.

This may sound a bit odd, but maybe the forum members could design a template to record critical dimensions of componets (on any given helmet) so we can trace and record distinguishing dimensions / features to assist with the recording of manufacturing variances from different manufacturers???

Over to you.....

Regards,

Martin.
 
Thanks for all of the nice comments. As my old Company Gunnery Sergeant used to say; "even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while".

Mr. Lost Skeleton-I utilized Klean Strip KS-3 paint stripper. I was a little nervous at first, but after testing it on a couple of small areas I found that it had no ill effect on the painted or parkerized finishes. After I realized that it would be good to go, I carefully cleaned the entire exterior and was pretty happy with the results.

Thank you Gus for pulling up that "before" picture for me. Tony and Martin as well for all of the great info on the Lachmann helmets.

Semper Fi,

Bryan.
 
Mart Vear said:
Spun (as opposed to pressed - helmet shell - check out photos).

Martin.
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Hey Martin,
Could you elaborate on your thoughts here, Do you believe these helmets were rolled into shape rather than pressed, I believe that would not be a very easy process, I think the marks you see on the helmet are like the marks found on ersatz helmets that were thought to have been turned on a machine. The concentric marks are made by the poorly polished die. There are two thoughts that come to mind as to why the dies were not polished, the first is a short cut to tooling up, but there may have been a reasonable explanation, a rough surface on the die could pull the metal better in the stretching process, where a smooth die could allow wrinkles and tears to form.
Spinning is a fairly common practice in forming, but normally you will see that in a symmetrical item, such as the top on a beer can, or closing a rivet.
Best wishes
Gus
 
To follow-up on Gus' comments, I've only noticed these "concentric ring" pressing marks on the Lachman versions I have, but there do also appear to be these markings (somewhat faintly and externally) on some of the photos published in this article.

I took a closer look at both of mine - separate rings evident (all be it quite faint lines) eminating from the crown down to about 2" above the liner at it's upper-most edge. Also, the marking "Lachman" appears twice in the crown, the wording being stamped in a gentle curve. One stamp reads "EO LACHMAN" with "16" (1916) below; the other stamp "LACHMAN BERLIN".

Another observation I noticed is that the lower-edge of the leather liner is flat to the sides of the helmet as opposed to following the slight curve of the metal edge trim (as on other makers). This gives the appearance that the liner can be seen from the side view profile projecting about 5mm below the edge trim directly below the cokades.

One other comment is that I have never seen a Lachman dated pre-1915, or with brass edge trim, wappen, studs, etc. One of my two Lachmans has a single "16" stamped, the other both bearing "15" and "16". My guess is that they were produced in this very distinctive war-time design and finish for the tail end of 1915 and into 1916. Not sure of numbers produced, but have never seen any with unit marks of bearing wappens to the non-line regiments (eg. those with different wappens).

Hope this throws a little more light on the subject!

Regards,

Martin.
 
Hi Martin,

I've noticed the same observations that you have made on my own helmet. I think Gus is correct concerning the metal die process.

These Lachmann helmets appear to be made with less quality than the ones produced by the traditional, common manufacturers and seem to be just a slight step above the really crude "ersatz" helmets I have seen posted here on this site. I would be interested in finding out what types of metal wares this firm produced prior to getting the contract for these helmets in 1915.

I agree also that a record of standard, critical dimensions between the various Cuirassier/JzP helmet manufacturers would be a great asset/tool for future use.

S/F

Bryan.
 
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