M15 tchapka

U

USN

Well-known member
Hello all,

I am interested in the M15 tchapka that is up for sale on the forum here and was wanting the opinions of some more experienced individuals as to the wappen. I have seen examples of standard pickelhauben with slits cut into the leather to accommodate a plate but I have seen mixed opinions as to whether those were done at a depot or done stateside as a victory helmet just to make a random plate fit the helmet. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I will include the link to the helmet.

M15 Garde Uhlan Tschapka Project

Hello All, I am offering up this interesting tschapka. The reason this helmet caught my eye was the strange zip-zag pattern on the inside inner shell of the helmet. I don't know what material this is but it almost seems like a pressed paper or thin wood. I don't believe this was bond helmet as...
www.pickelhaubes.com www.pickelhaubes.com

Many thanks,
Will
 
I would rather not comment on a helmet offered by a fellow member .
Why not ask the seller your questions direct ?
Steve
 
Steve,

I appreciate your candor.

I don't mind any comments made regarding my posted helmets. I actually encourage it!

This only applies to me so I would ask forum members to ask the seller how they feel but I have no issue with any observations negative or positive. In the end it's up to buyer to decide whether they want to purchase something but they should be educated with the best info we can provide them.

I told Will I can't tell if the plate was placed on the Tschapka at a Depot level or post war. All I know for sure is that the grommet spacing is correct for an issue Uhlan line Wappen and the helmet came from a US soldier as was booty but I was unable to confirm which war.

John
 
Yes I did discuss this with John before hand, I'm not a fan of backdooring people. Haha
 
In fact IMO we will never know where and when the Garde eagle was applied to
the Uhlan body .It's a matter of what you can be be happy with .The price is sure O K
We know from wartime photos that some helmet plates were changed or moved around .
Back in those days no one was trying to deceive anyone .They didn't know what was correct
and the helmets back then had a value of next to nothing .One of the things often seen
is a death head skull added to a line Husaren busby .We see the banner above the skull
is not the correct one .One could say back then "Look it is brought back by a veteran , it has to be right "
Steve
 
I am happy with it either way, just looking to expand my own knowledge. Your points are all very valid. I don't think if the plate is incorrect it would have been done to deceive but more due to a lack of knowledge since I'm sure no one studied them back then the way we do now
 
In my opinion the proper wappen would be the 1915 Prussian Tschapka eagle. To my eyes the extra slits have been done so that the Garde eagle which is longer, can be put on the shell. I would always go with whatever fits those original grommeted holes, as the manufacturer intended.
 
And so the process begins, I gave the shell a good treatment of chamberlains leather milk and I'm starting to reshape it. Once the shell retains a proper shape I'll start restitching the visors and begin the hunt for replacement parts like cockades and an ever elusive mortar board. The wappen actually fits the original grommets perfectly but they were just put into the helmet to low which I'm guessing is why the extra slits were added.20211122_101012.jpg
 
I am posting these here to avoid robbing Brian's tchapka thread on the subject of my helmets skull possibly shrinking to much for the visors ro be attached. As you can see there is a sizeable gap in between the visor and shell and the original visor trim is still in place.
20211220_122325.jpg
20211220_122317.jpg
20211220_122307.jpg
 
Thanks for posting these photos which clarify the situation. The problem here, is that you are trying to stitch the visor on with the trim in place. You need to remove the trim then stitch the leather visor back on to the shell. The metal trim is causing that gap between visor and shell. The visor has certainly shrunk but the metal trim obviously has not. Whenever I stitch, I always take the trim off , stitch then put the trim on. I never leave the trim in place. Once you have the visor on then try to replace the trim. If it fits back in place...great if not, you will have to cut the trim, drill a new hole for the pin and put it on the visor. Drill the hole first then cut the trim.
Now the next problem is, that if the leather has shrunk a bit, then you can only cut one side of the trim. You have to have enough space between the new hole and the old to secure the trim. Once you have the new hole drilled you cut off the old. Having cut only one side of the trim once re installed it will look slightly off but there is nothing that can be done. Of the half dozen or so of these that I have cut and re drilled, there was only one where the visor had shrunk so much that I could re drill and cut both sides. The other option is to punch new holes in the shell to put the pins in and snug up the trim.
 
Ah I was worried thatd be the conclusion, the pins are rusty and I was trying to avoid having to remove them out of fear that they'd snap once I started bending them, also the visor trim has a considerable grip on the visor.
 
The pins could be a problem but if the prongs break , you can use a dremel to remove the remains and solder in new ones. Steel prongs can be made from large staples. I know what you mean about the trim but with some careful force and patience, it will come off especially, once it is free of the shell. This will give you more leverage.
 
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