Shaping wappen to helmets

chinstrap

chinstrap

Active member
This may have been discussed before, but how were wappen shaped to fit closely and tightly to the curvature of helmets, given there were so many variations in size, manufacturer etc? Were they flat when produced?
I am trying to find answers to the same questions about the officer helmet plates fitted to the British home service helmets I collect. These plates are more substantial than wappens and very difficult to shape, yet the curvature on all the plates I have varies dramatically. Some examples of what these plates look like below-not a great photo, I’m afraid

Patrick8EC00904-5077-47BD-8324-A7093F923C61.jpeg
 
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I believe that the original die was curved so that the wappen came out with a curve after it was stamped.
 
Thanks Brian,

Presumably that meant making wappens of different sizes to fit the different sizes of helmets? The die for the Garde eagle must have been interesting!

Patrick
 
I am guessing, but I think that it makes sense, that they would try to keep one size of wappen that fit would as many helmet sizes as possible. You would think that the wappen for such sizes as 53, 54, 55 cm would have to be smaller. As the height of the helmet was reduced the wappen size was naturally reduced as well. Older wappen are taller and heavier.
 
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b.loree said:
You would think thought that the wappen for such sizes as 53, 54, 55 cm would have to be smaller.
Click to expand...
As far as I know the Wappen was the same size for all helmet sizes of same make and model, e.g. only one size of the standard Prussian eagle Wappen for the M95 model. The bottom of the Wappen should be close to the top of the Vorderschirm (front peak), and the top of the Wappen would have a different distance to the Teller depending on the size of the helmet.
 
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