Conservation of a Brass Pickelhaube after a recent buy

DoneDoing

Member
I'd like to thank all that have written here on how to conserve haubes as it made my job that little bit easier after buying my first Pickelhaube.

I hadn't seen one in the flesh previously to taking delivery of this on Wednesday of this week, although I'd wanted one for a long time (they just don't show up here in Australia).

Thought I'd show & write here what I did with before and after shots and a few words to the previous owner from a recent message.

Regards Wayne


Well I got to it and did what I've wanted to do for a long time with one of these. Most may not approve but I only had to do this once and in time the patina will return. It's in my blood to restore and conserve and it's my profession as well. Besides in my opinion these were meant to be 'the-bling' of the time.....I wouldn't dare do it to my steel helmets albeit I have done it to one of my WW1 camos with surface rust.

They're such a delight to work with!

It was always a good helmet to start with.

Some of the completed works:
- The hard helmet needed in some spots filling, sanding and realigning & ultimately polished but not over & above.

-The spike base was slightly bent as were the spilt pins & the 'inner plate' refitted to the inside.

-The spine was slightly dented & out of shape along with an unattached pin that had to be re-soldered.

-The wappen was moulded (re-bent) to the helmet.

-The brass trim on the front peak was realigned.

-The liner was re-moulded & touched up black near the ear cutouts.

-The inner peak was re-coloured after the removal of tape that had been used to keep the brass trim in place..

-Original Kokardes & chinstrap fitted.

-All brassware polished.

-Still to do: A couple of washers & a leather tie (reproduction used at the moment).

Completed in 3 days, off & on and late into the night.


Thanks for looking.

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I am sure you have enjoyed working on it. I however like the original condition that you had gotten it. These are things that have a 100 years history and I like the patina to tell a story.
 
Knowing brass it'll be back to the way it was in no time but I prefer them this way. I'm not in the habit of spending my time cleaning brass all day so I'll be leaving it.
It did have 'brasso' white residue prior to me buying it so it had been cleaned previously.
 
Welcome to the Forum :)
Your ambition and your motives are honest and you put a lot of effort to the helmet. The workmanship looks good as well, but unfortunately you overdid it in my opinion. Even when the patina comes back, its originality has been lost.
Sorry, I would have liked to write something more positive. But as you said, „we are all different“ and everyone of us should have fun in our common hobby 🙃
 
Some people like blondes, others prefer brunettes and nothing will change that. I like them all. Have a nice day.
 
Knowing brass it'll be back to the way it was in no time but I prefer them this way. I'm not in the habit of spending my time cleaning brass all day so I'll be leaving it.
It did have 'brasso' white residue prior to me buying it so it had been cleaned previously.
I have to say that you did a good job and I can imaging your motivation working on the haubes till late and the satisfaction when it's done 👍
 
Thanks Amybellars. It was an all new experience having only ever worked on steel helmets, much prefer these.
Yep....sitting pride of place as I write.

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Welcome to the forum D, great have you join us. We have discussed this issue of how much to polish/ clean before. As a restorer who gets paid for his services, I naturally do whatever the client wants. My attitude is it is your helmet, you decide on the amount of restoration to be done. Regarding my own collection, I practice moderation. If I buy a piece where the brass is a chocolate brown I will clean it thoroughly once, then leave it for the next owner. Anything else will be cleaned lightly or not at all . I will remove paint spots which is common. It seems people often painted with their helmet exposed in the room. 😊 I agree with your “bling” comment. These helmets were meant to impress as we see in period photos. Nice job on the clean up. Your helmet markings GR 10 would suggest Grenadier Regt. 10 which would have meant a Garde style helmet plate instead of this line infantry one. Any extra holes in the front of the shell? The Army Korps markings BIA XI also don’t match for GR 10 (VI AK).....interesting.
 
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Hi b. loree
Thank you and it's good to be here. Such a great amount of knowledge and experience here.
I've only ever wanted one pickelhaube (I'm sure you've heard that before) and I waited some time for it to come along and since it arrived I noticed very quickly they're not like any other helmet that I've worked on previously. They're a lot of fun and easier.....and somewhat fascinating also.
I knew most wouldn't have agreed or liked what I did but it was for me and I enjoy restoring or conserving back to what once was. I was heavily criticised once for doing the same with an M17, which is also part of my own collection. And I am currently and painstakingly restoring another M17 camo that is worth saving IMO.
I didn't want this haube to be another helmet in the back of my cupboard laying unseen and unloved so I got to it immediately.
The gentleman I bought it off had many and I could see from his collection that this one was at the 'bottom-of-the-pile'.....but for me it takes pride of place and almost an artistic statement sitting amongst the others.

Yes the stamps have left a few bewildered too.
And it does have widened holes.
Could I ask what sort of plate / wappen it may have had through an image?
 
// Your helmet markings GR 10 would suggest Grenadier Regt. 10 which would have meant a Garde style helmet plate instead of this line infantry one. //
Swept wing ‘new style’ Grenadier eagle was not adopted until 1913 by Grenadier Regts. Nr. 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
 
So the plate on mine is incorrect or are the markings confusing?.....still a newbie and interested
 
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No, the plate on it is correct if it was manufactured/issued prior to 1913. Since there are no extra holes in the front of the shell, then we can assume that this is the original plate that was put on it. The swept wing Garde style Grenadier eagle worn by GR 10 after 1913 would require holes wider apart. So everything is good. Here are a couple of pics of a Grenadier officer plate from a restoration I did this year:
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The crowns on most officer plates are voided as we see here. Soldered screw posts and square nuts are used to attach the wappen (plate) to the shell. Some war time produced officer wappen will have soldered prongs rather than screw posts. This piece was not cleaned because the customer did not request it. :)
 
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Thanks for those images.

I mentioned after you asked that the holes have been widened by about 5mm so now assuming it may have had the plate above?

Just to clarify the original holes have been widened.
 
Before the "new " wide winged eagle front plate G R 10 would have carried the old style " FWR " front plate .
But I have seen a G R 2 Feldgrau helmet Kammer with a regular Prussian line eagle .
Steve
 
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