WW1 German M-16 camouflage helmet of the Prussian "Gardekorps", with The Name of the soldier. Size 64

[JohnS3rd]

ww1 German M-16 camo Prussian „Gardekorps” helmet. size 64. Companie 5th. | eBay

Size 64, manufacture stamp B.F.64. Have painted shield on the side and number 5 at the back. With a lot of 3 color camo paint present on the shell. Have one crack at the back. Inside is a liner with 3 pillows, complete with pads and drawstring.

www.ebay.com

The helmet and the cammo look like the real deal from other helmets I have seen and owned. However, I do not know enough about the Gardekorps shield and numbering.
Opinions?

 

[Amybellars]

It's a fake. A good fake. I bought 2 helmets from this guy before and he always have helmets of the same colour scheme and the strokes of the paint are always the same on all his helmets. His helmet liner even have the manufacturer imprinted on the leather band making it look real but again it is a good fake. So when you see this colour scheme and the way that the paint is applied on the helmet, avoid. The "5" lettering is wrong as well.

Regards
Amy Bellars

 

[Stosstrupp]

The rivets are also red flags for me poor buyer.

 

[ottodog8]

Beware of anything from Latvia. Some very good fakes come from there.

 

[Amybellars]

Beware of anything from Latvia. Some very good fakes come from there.

The sad thing is chances of overseas buyers will buy it and then it will be in the collectors market together with the real camos

 

[Lars13]

It's a fake. A good fake

That's an incredibly good fake
I know that a lot of the camo helmets are post war fabrications, but the helmet itself looks completely correct, with the correct colour and aging on the inside, when compared to my M18 Stahlhelm. That is just scary.
Regards,
Lars

 

[Kaikun2001]

That's an incredibly good fake
I know that a lot of the camo helmets are post war fabrications, but the helmet itself looks completely correct, with the correct colour and aging on the inside, when compared to my M18 Stahlhelm. That is just scary.
Regards,
Lars

There are lots of ways to spot the typical Latvian fake, tool marks,paint sludge(the process of mixing paint together with dirt and other things), fake patina.

Lets take a look at another one of his fakes from a while back and break it down. A=dirty rust sludge wash. B=Overworked tool damage, it looks very unnatural and forced. C=Tool marks and the paint is nasty and yellow without a thickness of sludge at this point. D= more classical tool marks.

 

[Kaikun2001]

He also does WW2 variants, pay attention to the colour scheme and the same type of incorrect repro liners.

 

[Lars13]

There are lots of ways to spot the typical Latvian fake

Thank you, excellent explanation and pictures

 

[ussguppy]

I reached out to him on ebay and asked him why he is selling this fake helmet. He wanted to know why I thought it was fake. He really does his research which is kinda scary. Then he blocked me, not that it matters.

 

[Amybellars]

I reached out to him on ebay and asked him why he is selling this fake helmet. He wanted to know why I thought it was fake. He really does his research which is kinda scary. Then he blocked me, not that it matters.

LOL, he has 3 handles on ebay and he will always tells you that he manages to buy it from a collector in Lativ. All you need is to tell him what you want and he will look for a ghost collector to buy from and sell to you. Size 68 WW1 liner, chinstraps etc. He has the original ones in his hands and he studies them to perfect his art of faking. I noticed that he will not sell on ebay often, mayone one helmet every 2-3 months but all with same colour scheme, same liner and most helmets will have the soldier's name.

 

[argonne]

I fully agree. This guy is a real artist but a great dangerous fake maker.
We came to the same results during a discussion on our French forum!
Do not buy militaria from Latvia!!!
Philippe