Should I leave the spike stuff in place?

[Jaap Verduijn]

Greetings all!

The spikey contraption on my "old Prussian lady" has apparently seen some wear, not to mention dirt, during its lifetime. Of course it should be possible to replace the whole thing with another authentic original in better state, but I am reluctant to do this. You see, I tend to believe that the present spike base etcetera have been there "all the time". The split brads, when looked at from the inside of the helmet, seem to have never been removed/replaced. They've been there for a long time, I think. Whaddaya guys reckon - is this "sufficiently original" to leave it in place and consider its not truly pristine state the ageing that might be expected of a 117 years old lady?

Your opinions wil be mightily appreciated!

 

[pickelhauben]

Removing split pins is always scary because they snap very easy.

If the helmet were mine , I would use blue painters tape and tape the leather around the spike base then go to work on the spike.

If possible try to slide the tape under the base.

 

[Jaap Verduijn]

Hi mate, thanks! So you too think that it's "original enough" to leave in place? Indeed I don't want to bugger up the split pins - they seem to be very sturdy and thick, adding to my impression that they've "always" been there, and also making it necessary to use a lot of force with indeed the risk of breaking. I don't think I want to risk that. Cheers!

PS: Oh, and thanks for the tip with the painter's tape!

 

[aicusv]

Looks to me that the rerouted spine has been soldered to the spike base (which is split). I think I would leave the whole thing alone. Maybe just clean any dirt off, but nothing more.

 

[coert65]

It isn't soldered, the spine is loose. The piece of the spine that should be under the base (to fix it with the brad) is broken of, and still located under the spike. At least I think so, I never took the spike off, because I also wasn't prepared to take the split-brads off. I did give Jaap a good original spike with the helmet, so if he was prapared to fix it he could.

 

[Jaap Verduijn]

Hi guys!

Coert is correct, he told me already before the swap that the spine was loose at that point. I temporarily fixated it with some rubbery stuff - that's what you see (grin)! I can remove it any time, and use a bit of good oldfashioned solder instead to fix it permanently to the litte broken-off piece underneath the spike base.

Actually I think the base, neck and spike may all be original to the helmet, having been there since its birth in 1900... I think I'll leave it all in place, and the extra spike Coert added may at some future time serve to improve a possible fixer-upper that I might encounter.

With a bit more cleaning up she'll be alright! Application of some first quality shoe polish followed by vigourous buffing has already considerably improved the looks of the helmet's body. A real M1895 chicken is on its way, and once that has been duly mounted I reckon I'll let the old Prussian lady enjoy her old age in undisturbed peace while regularly ooking at her with great pleasure !