Garde-Pioneer or Garde-Fusilier Pickelhaube

Sandmann said:
Charles, Alan… may I ask you to measure the width or height of the guard stars for my pickelhauben measurement comparison table? I'm always looking for measurements of guard stars of helmets from 1842 to 1895, regardless of whether they are enlisted or officer's helmets.
Thank you in advance for sour support.
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Hi Sandy,

Yes, I'll get you measurement of the guard star.

I will also look at my 2 guard ulan helmets and send you the info soon.

Best Wishes,

Alan
 
So, you think the regular ammonia and Dawn Dishwashing soap mixture would work?
 
ww1czechlegion said:
Congratulations Charles, on a superb looking guard helmet!

The metal fittings on yours look similar to what the condition of the fittings on my helmet looked like when I acquired it back in 2008.

I chose to clean mine, and the silver frosting on the guard eagle really jumps out and looks super sharp once I cleaned the fittings.

Here's what mine looks like after I cleaned it. I left the neusilber guard star uncleaned, because I didn't want to get any of the cleaning product on the enamel in the star. I cleaned the spike, base, stars, back spine, front visor trim piece, chinscales, and rosettes, and the guard eagle, but not the guard star.

Best Wishes,

Alan


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Hi Alan, this one is really a jewel. I love it. Congrats.
Zeb
 
Thanks, trying to decide whether to clean or not.
I’m worried mine is wartime quality so wonder if soapy ammonia solution could hurt the finish or not.
 
ccj said:
Thanks, trying to decide whether to clean or not.
I’m worried mine is wartime quality so wonder if soapy ammonia solution could hurt the finish or not.
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Try a very small area to star with
maybe even the back side of the plate
Steve
 
Ok, after hours of contemplation I decided to take a chance. I used ammonia with water then wiped off with a damp cloth then dried.

I must say, my butt was puckered for a while till some positive results surfaced. I didn’t get too agresiva, just took off enough patina to get some shiny silver to show.

I think it looks good.
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Beautiful results Charles - it looks magnificent! And not over polished, as Michael said.
 
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ccj said:
Ok, after hours of contemplation I decided to take a chance. I used ammonia with water then wiped off with a damp cloth then dried.

I must say, my butt was puckered for a while till some positive results surfaced. I didn’t get too agresiva, just took off enough patina to get some shiny silver to show.

I think it looks good.
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Congratulations Charles on taking a "leap of faith" and trusting what I said about sudsy ammonia. Regular household cleaning ammonia mixed with water gave you a similar excellent result. The helmet looks really great, congratulations!

I still remember the look on my friend's face when he saw what his old helmet looked like after I cleaned it. He was shocked when he saw how much better it looked, like a totally different helmet from when I had bought it from him.

Best Wishes,

Alan
 
Lars13 said:
Balls of steel! I don't think I would have dared, but it certainly paid off :) The helmet looks very nice.
Regards,
Lars
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I was fortunate to have seen first hand, the many results that my oldest friend had over the years when he used Parson's Sudsy Ammonia on items that were mercury fire gilded and the amazing excellent results he had cleaning objects with the product. I also knew that it could be used with neusilber items such as my helmet.

There was no need for any "leap of faith" with myself when I first used it to clean a couple of my officer helmets many years ago, because I knew the results I would get would be amazing.

Best Wishes,

Alan
 
ww1czechlegion said:
I was fortunate to have seen first hand, the many results that my oldest friend had over the years when he used Parson's Sudsy Ammonia on items that were mercury fire gilded and the amazing excellent results he had cleaning objects with the product. I also knew that it could be used with neusilber items such as my helmet.

There was no need for any "leap of faith" with myself when I first used it to clean a couple of my officer helmets many years ago, because I knew the results I would get would be amazing.

Best Wishes,

Alan
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I learned of the product from Paul "von " Ruehs of Wayne , N. J.
If any of you have been around long enough to remember him ?
circa 1970
Steve
 
The Parson’s Sudsy Amonia is not available in CN, at least I have not been able to find it. Something, I will buy in Florida next time. Some of you like to leave things as they are regarding fittings and finish but I like to see things cleaned up to approximate how they looked when actually being worn.
 
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