M15 OR's Tschapka "Bond Helmet"

[b.loree]

Steve, I think that yours is the only M15 Garde tschapka with complete wappen that I have ever seen! Thanks Louis it is an unissued piece and I felt very privileged to be trusted to do some restoration on it.

 

[pionierhorn]

Thank You again Brian, As it sits today in my collection

 

[J.LeBrasseur]

Great job as usual Brian!

 

[Snaffles]

Excellent work, Brian.

 

[Sandmann]

Indeed, looks great. Thank you for sharing and well done

 

[USN]

How difficult was it to get the visor affixed? I have just snapped my thread 5 times trying to re stitch mine and will be promptly put it back in the shelf until my patience has been regained haha

 

[b.loree]

It is much easier if once you have it threaded, to have a second person hold the visor while you pull on the thread cinching it up to the shell. As your thread keeps breaking try using linen book binder thread instead and wax it heavily with bees wax. That is the thread I used.

 

[USN]

What exactly does the beeswax do? Does it just make it easier for the thread to go through?

 

[b.loree]

It protects the thread by giving it a wax coating and lubricates it so it passes through the stitch holes more easily. There is a lot of wear and stress on these “natural “ cotton and linen threads as you stitch. When stitching a regular visor you have to keep waxing and moving the needle along the thread so that the eye does not cut through it. If you don’t move your needle you will see the thread begin to fray and eventually break.

 

[USN]

It protects the thread by giving it a wax coating and lubricates it so it passes through the stitch holes more easily. There is a lot of wear and stress on these “natural “ cotton and linen threads as you stitch. When stitching a regular visor you have to keep waxing and moving the needle along the thread so that the eye does not cut through it. If you don’t move your needle you will see the thread begin to fray and eventually break.

I'll be putting some of the wax on order but I had been moving the needle as I worked on this one but the breaks occurred as I was trying to synch the visor closer to the helmet. I almost wonder if the shell has shrunk to much and now the visor simply won't match. There is a considerable gap.

 

[b.loree]

I believe you can buy bees wax at Walmart, where they sell thread and yarn, if memory serves. A shrunken shell could be the problem though . It is never simple dealing with these old pieces of History. You could use the metal visor trim to check for shrinkage.

 

[USN]

I believe you can buy bees wax at Walmart, where they sell thread and yarn, if memory serves. A shrunken shell could be the problem though . It is never simple dealing with these old pieces of History. You could use the metal visor trim to check for shrinkage.

The visor trim is still attached to the helmet and fits just fine, I'll take some photos shortly here and post them

 

[USN]

I posted the photos on my tchapka thread. I don't want to steer this thread to far away from Brian's good work.

 

[aicusv]

Great job, it has also was puzzled me as to how to restitch the visor on one of these. I've actually have passed up a couple of Tschapkas because of loose front visors. We talked about the Star before, it does appear there are far more with out one than with. Here's mine.

 

[b.loree]

As I have said before, the weak point of these tschapkas is the design of the folded front visor and how it is stitched on. This is why so many have torn or separated visors! They could have kept the shape of the shell and top as usual but stitched that visor on pickelhaube style......much more stable!!

 

[Tenente]

Well done my friend. Is the liner original? Or did you install it?

 

[b.loree]

No the liner is original. This is an unissued piece, think New Old Stock. These were captured by the US Forces and sent back as prizes for selling War Bonds.