Here are the after pictures. I forgot to add, that I had to dye the sweat band a suitable colour as well. I am not really proud of the sweat band, it looks ok but I can do better. This was the first one that I have ever put in and to have to do it twice added to the problem. You will note that the silk liner took a beating during the restoration. The silk, if it even was silk was war time production and very thin. Add on 100 yrs of existence and it was very fragile and tore at the slightest touch.
I would like to emphasize here that these helmets especially the officer helmets and visors which have such fine stitching have only one restoration in them. A certain amount of "beating" can not be avoided during restoration. I have to put my hands inside the shell hundreds of times in order to re stitch. This was the primary reason why I removed the sweat band and silk to begin with. I knew that stitching the side re enforcements plus both visors would play hell with these parts. Unfortunately, the original sweat band was done after 100 years and could not be saved. Here are the pics:
I would like to emphasize here that these helmets especially the officer helmets and visors which have such fine stitching have only one restoration in them. A certain amount of "beating" can not be avoided during restoration. I have to put my hands inside the shell hundreds of times in order to re stitch. This was the primary reason why I removed the sweat band and silk to begin with. I knew that stitching the side re enforcements plus both visors would play hell with these parts. Unfortunately, the original sweat band was done after 100 years and could not be saved. Here are the pics:
