As I stated previously, I always put the renforcement disc back on the inside where to my mind it was originally designed to be. All of the M95s that I have worked on had the disc on the inside or had evidence of the disc on the inside.. Has anyone seen the disc on the outside of a filz helme?? I haven't. The only reason that I can conceive of for putting the disc on the outside is if the helmet was going to be worn with a cover so it would be hidden but again, why bother? The presence of a disc outside destroys the aesthetics of the helmet, it was meant to be hidden. As to the finish problems that we find on most of these helmets....one of the ingredients is a product called ashphaltum ie tar as in tar bucket shako from Napoleonic times. This stuff runs when subjected to heat and God knows, many of these helmets were stored in attics, foot lockers etc and subjected to tremendous heat and cold. I think that we have to recoginze that for decades these pieces were regarded as war souveniers, no one collected them or took care of them. They were forgotten about. They were subjected to "closed" conditions. Consequently, we see the finish melting and running on to chin scales, wappen and rear spines etc. We also see the marks of cloth helmet covers in the finish. Brian