German Camouflage Stahlhelm M1916 with Totenkopf

RON

RON

Well-known member
This seller is based in Latvia.
Once bought from him a WW2 Tan Painted Feld Polizei Stahlhem which turned out to be completely bogus except maybe the shell.
This one looks too good to be real as well... What do you think? :-k
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ww1-German-Camouflage-helmet-M-16-Totenkopf-Skull-Size-66-With-liner/181756634313?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D798fb2ce71bc46439c117a182389eac2%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D261901578857&rt=nc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
RON said:
Me neither but you gotta admit it looks pretty tempting
Click to expand...

Ronny, I would disagree. Nothing about that helmet "temps" me. Without seeing more photos, seeing the interior, etc. I'm not the least bit interested. I'm tempted by a lot of stuff... that helmet is so not one of them. :D
 
I got to examine this helmet in hand, and in my honest opinion, it looks very good, original period paint, and liner. I do not believe it was faked, or boosted in any way. John
 
Oh please ](*,) ... Didn't you read the description of the seller? He writes everything is "restored" or aged, only the helmet shell is original. No inspection in hand needed I think #-o ... Unless you put a value to the new paintjob (as described by the seller).

Adler
 
I do not think we are we talking of the same helmet here? You must be reading a different listing. Ron speaks of a different helmet he once bought from the seller.
Discription from helmet in question.

ww1 German M-16 camouflage helmet. Totenkopf. Helmet is size 66. Shell have Skull in front of the shell, at the back is two painted granades. Complete with liner, leather is in good condition, not dried and complete with all pads. Please see photos for more details. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

All the beating your head off the wall must have made you a little confused............

John
 
Has anyone saved any pictures of the helmet in question? I recall it being one of those poorly faked "Latvian special" fantasy helmets that are posted weekly, and going by the description provided by JDT, it seems that's exactly what it is.
 
Just followed the link... and that seems to be the problem with posting links instead of pictures...

Adler
 
Unfortunately, the link has changed.
It was the one described by JDT and did look too good to be true but not so easy to spot as a fake. At least not from my computer screen...
 
Last week I made seller an offer on it that was taken, on a gamble. As Ron said, it looked pretty good. I am a little busy today, and raining here, but will try to get some good pics to let you all decide what you think. I would like to hear from others on this one myself. I am a fairly new collector of helmets, and this is a learning curve to me. I kept the helmet, (return offered) it seems good to me, and looks good on the shelf! John.
 
First thing to point out is that the liner pads are modern fakes. The proportions are off and the leather has been artificially aged with dye and who knows what else in order to make them look old. The leather that was used back then was either vegetable tanned cow/calf skin or the later off-white chrome tanned sheepskin. They did not dye liner pads brown. When you see pads with brown dye, especially on the reverse, it's a bad sign. The stitching is coarse and looks hand done. Original tan leather pads for comparison:



The interior paint on the shell and liner band looks like it could be original WW1 period going by the pictures. Not sure though.

The liner pins are well known round-ended repros available since at least the 90s and can still be found on eBay today. The paint that covers them and the helmet exterior has been artfully scratched and aged to look old and worn.

I have held this exact type of fake in my hands more than once. What they generally do is strip the shell, chemically darken the bare steel, apply the camo paint, and then chip and scratch it to expose the chemically aged, old looking metal. The scratches and chips all have an artificially and uniformly aged look to them, and this pops out at you right away once you've seen enough originals as well as fakes. You will notice that there is no factory applied field gray paint visible anywhere underneath the camo. It's an important thing to look for.
Compare it to these pictures here of an original camo. There are a mixture of newer scratches and chips as well as old damage. The factory field gray paint is visible underneath the chips in many areas, not just bare metal.




 
Well I thank you very much for the class. I guess it It looks like I paid some tuition with this one. Only the square end rivets you pictured are correct? All round end rivets are repro then? Thanks Again for taking the time to point detail out, I found your reply very interesting. . I had better stick to pistols........ John
 
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