reference books help

pointystuff

pointystuff

Active member
This looks similar to the bogus Pickelhauben coming out of the UK....
http://cgi.ebay.com/WW1-GERMAN-ARMY-MACHINE-GUNNER-UNIFORM-KEPI-SHAKO-HAT_W0QQitemZ380070573639QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380070573639&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Reference books save money.
Brad
 
That is a very fair question! There are many many problems with this helmet but I will direct your attention to the markings. If you are new, you can be confused by what seem to be good markings. Frankly if you are old. You can be just as confused. Knowledge about how these markings worked is only a few years old. Only a very few people understood it before then. Our own R1 I would count in that group.

Okay a test. What corps was the machine gun Abteilung from? There is no way that it would be from corps number six. That is what is indicated by the marking BAVI so right away, the alarm bells should ring. This is even before you look at the marks for being correct. Just the alignment is wrong.

Now from a tired old man, was that clear or understandable? If not I will try again. Thank you for such a fair question.
 
Tell us newbies why that looks bogus to you.
Click to expand...

1. A legitimate machinegun abteilung shako has brown leather visors, brown leather top and a brown leather chinstrap.
2. The front plate on the shako is too big. It is a plate from a spike helmet. The correct front plate for the shako is the same size as a Jaeger front plate.
3. The field badge is a poorly made copy.
4. The rear visor is too large and the shape is incorrect.
5. The leather top is poorly made and uneven.
6. The reenforcement for the field badge wire loop should be on the inside of the shako, not swen to the outside.
7. The markings are incorrect in shape and style.

Reservist1
 
okay and while I was at it I was reminded in a very gentle way by R1
that the unit really was in VI corps. I was thinking of a guard machine-gun unit. So my intentions were good, but my facts were wrong!

Anyway you now have a few reasons why this helmet is not very desirable.
 
Well, I feel like the kid at the dentist office circa 1962 looking through the magazine with the "Hidden Pictures" feature.

How did they get the leather (assuming it is leather) to 'craze' the way it has? Or is this a very old replica? Or possibly a badly re-worked original ?

And what is it about the unit mark that is wrong?

I am beginning to get gun shy of ever buying another haube.
 
Check out the shako section at kaisersbunker.com and compare the features
of the repro vs. the originals. It just takes time to be able to see the differences. Sometimes it's not easy to recognize a replica, but this one
is not the best of copies. Hang in there. Flexing the leather enough to make hairline cracks can mimic age crazing.
Regards,
Brad
 
Here is a photo of an original VI Army Corps marking in a shako from the 6th Jaeger Bn. The differences are pretty obvious.

jb6tv2.jpg


The MGA unit mark in the auction offering looks like it was stamped in last week and the letters are too narrow.

As for the crazed leather. The front visor and top may well be from an original shako or more likely a post world War I police shako. From the photos in the auction listing the visors and top are obviously resewn.

The subject of this thread is "Reference Books Help". That is very sound advice. With the prices of Imperial German helmets going through the roof (a real machinegun shako will cost several thousands of dollars and good luck finding one) spending a few hundred dollars on good reference material can prevent very expensive mistakes.

Reservist1
 
Wetting leather and then drying under a heat lamp or heat gun will also craze and crack leather to make it appear old. This is what appears to have been done, especially on the liners of the Ersatz felt Piclehaubes.

I wish I could track down someone making these, there would be a gentle "tap tap tap" at their door some evening. :evil1:
 
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