Saxe OYV Arty., Prussian General

[b.loree]

Last week I received 3 helmets from Alan S. aka Czech Legion....an M15 Prussian "bond helmet", a Saxe private purchase and a Prussian general officer. The first two pieces needed both visors restitched and as we shall see, the General has a patch of missing finish. I tackled the size 53 cm M15 first and completed the restitch on Saturday, each helmet came in it's own box so this will be shipped out tomorrow. The Saxe was taken apart today and stitch holes cleaned out. The General had it's first coat of shellac applied so we are well underway.

Reichs kokarde is fused to the helmet shell, no need to remove it. This helmet has beautiful gilt fittings!

A satin liner rather than the usual ribbed silk.

All old loose shellac is removed from the affected area and the bare shell is sanded to provide "grip" for the new finish. I have tried to use original flakes from the shell in the past but find that it is much easier to start fresh.

First application. To be continued....

 

[aicusv]

Can't wait.

 

[ww1czechlegion]

Wow Brian, you're fast! I'm amazed that you have the M15 restitch of both visors completed already, many thanks! :bravo:

The start of the lacquer job looks great! Again, many thanks for taking this project and the others on, I appreciate it! =D> :bravo:

Best Regards,

Alan

 

[b.loree]

Alan I did the M15 all in one sitting on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny warm day, it's a small helmet and in like new condition so I just got into it. .
A couple of pics of this little (size 53 cm) M15:

Both visors were completely separated from the shell...only one split brad is removed, thus freeing up the spine and visor for removal.

The typical "like new" condition of what we collectors here in N America call a War Bond helmet....never issued.

The helmet is dated 1915 and we see here that they were still using the M95 style brass grommets. I would presume that despite 3 more years of warfare, this helmet was too small even for use at the time. Front visor restitched.

The Saxe OYV/private purchase artillery helmet.

Both visors completely separated from the shell.

The liner condition tells us that "RH" (owners initials) used some sort of hair oil treatment. The initials are written in pencil inside the shell. There is also a partial ink manufacture/retail store stamp......Arno Rudorf Konig George....Strasse?? No. 92. We have no idea if Arno was a manufactureer or simply had a store front where he sold military accoutrements. Unlike most private purchase pieces, this has no size number written in grease pencil inside the shell.

 

[b.loree]

The Saxe Arty. was completed today. Fittings were cleaned initially using a sonic cleaner then finished off with Nevr-Dull. None of the fittings were polished using a buffing wheel and jeweller's rouge except for the split prong brads for front trim and 2 of the spike dome brads. I always aneal (heat) those prongs which are not soldered. This softens the metal so the prongs will easily bend back into position. The torch I use, turns the brads black, so the brass heads have to be buffed. The wappen was cleaned with Haggerty's after being put through the sonic cleaning.

The piece although private purchase, has the regulation non vented OR's spine. The wappen is marked to the Osang Co. while the kugel was manufactured by Awes Marke. My thanks to Alan for entrusting me with this restoration.

 

[aicusv]

Turned out really nice, great looking piece.

 

[J.LeBrasseur]

Great job again Brian!

 

[Amybellars]

Wow, you are amazing

 

[ww1czechlegion]

Many thanks again Brian for doing this project, it really looks great! Here are the long awaited photos of the helmet put back together.

I'm waiting for a couple more domed screw post retainers for the spike base to arrive in the mail. And I had to borrow a brass fittings chinstrap off of a different helmet here for the photos.

Best Regards,

Alan

 

[Sandmann]

Great job, thx for sharing :bravo: