RESHAPING HELMET BODY
- Thread starter SHOOTEST
- Start date
Thanks for reposting with pictures, so much easier to see the problem. This is what I would do...... you need a styrofoam head form, most collectors have them so I am going to assume you do. Put a plastic bag over it so your liner won't stick to it. Next take a couple of sheets of paper towel, put them together and fold until you have a double thickness strip of Ptowel about 2 inches wide. Wet this with water, pull your liner up out of the shell. Tip the helmet up on an angle, if you have a rectangular container (to hold it) put it in that tipped up and facing you. Next, place the wet Ptowel strip along the back rim of the shell where your problem is but not on the liner. Leave this in place for approx an hour. What we are doing is wetting that particular area which has collapsed and not the entire helmet. The water from the paper towel will soak into the leather making it soft. Once this has happened put your helmet on the head form, making sure that that rear area has been pushed out to where it should be to match the circumference of the rest of the shell. Allow to dry for 24 hrs. This is called "blocking" If you had a hat stretcher, you could leave the liner pulled out, avoiding any moisture contact. Then, put the stretcher into the shell and push that area back into place. I use antique ones but there are modern ones available on Ebay. This is an easy fix, you should have no problems.
chinstrap
Active member
Brian,
I want to do some re-shaping with a hat-stretcher to the back of an M95 helmet. The liner still has its original adjustment ‘string’, which is tightly knotted, and I don’t want to interfere with this, so I can’t pull the liner outwards to let the stretcher sit on the shell,rather than the leather of the liner. I’m sure I read in another of your posts that pressing the liner against wet leather will result in the liner sticking and being damaged when peeling it off. Would it be safe to place a bit of plastic bag between the liner and the damp leather before using the stretcher? Otherwise I don’t think I can use the hydrating technique and will just have to see whether the action of the stretcher on the dry leather over time brings about an improvement. Any thoughts, comments or advice?
Thanks
Patrick
I want to do some re-shaping with a hat-stretcher to the back of an M95 helmet. The liner still has its original adjustment ‘string’, which is tightly knotted, and I don’t want to interfere with this, so I can’t pull the liner outwards to let the stretcher sit on the shell,rather than the leather of the liner. I’m sure I read in another of your posts that pressing the liner against wet leather will result in the liner sticking and being damaged when peeling it off. Would it be safe to place a bit of plastic bag between the liner and the damp leather before using the stretcher? Otherwise I don’t think I can use the hydrating technique and will just have to see whether the action of the stretcher on the dry leather over time brings about an improvement. Any thoughts, comments or advice?
Thanks
Patrick
Yes I have used a plastic bag when dealing with that situation, so go ahead. I am also using wet sponges now in the hydration bag instead of wet newspapers. I recently had to hydrate a front visor from a Grenadier Officer helmet. The eagle tail had severely depressed a section of the visor. After two days in the bag the visor was very pliable and the depression popped out when pinned to a styrofoam head covered in a plastic bag. The sponges obviously are just placed in the bag and not in the helmet. Let me know how this goes for you. 
Yes Sandy, you need a clear plastic (so you can watch the helmet) sealable bag. Place another plastic bag in your helmet shell then put wet news paper or wet sponges in that bag. Then seal up the first bag . The humidity in the bag will increase and ideally, the helmet will become supple again. Leave this for 24 hours then check it ......is the leather softening ? If not, then back in the bag. You have to carefully check on the helmet every day. Eventually, the leather will change. What will happen if you forget about it and leave the helmet in too long? Disaster! Mould will form on the helmet and the finish will flake off. I speak from experience :-? . Once the helmet has softened, block it on a head form again covered with a plastic bag so the liner will not stick. A hat stretcher can also be used but always covered in plastic. I must also stress, there are no guarantees when dealing with 100+ year old leather. Sometimes this works great and at other times not quite as well.