YouTube fireman helm restoration - some interesting ideas

Bungo

Bungo

Member
Hi guys, I found this video yesterday and found it very interesting in the context of restoring helmets. In it a guy restores an antique Czech fireman’s helmet - not a pickelhaube, but some of the techniques could be adapted.

https://youtu.be/AyUzjZVJYyw

Overall the restoration is done to make it shiny and brand new looking, which is not what we would aim for around here. There are some toe-curling aspects - I cringed watching him Dremel polish off all the delicate gilding leaving a bright brass finish :cry: . And the painting of the leather shell, while it looks pretty and shiny, just wouldn’t feel the same as a lacquered restoration (let alone all that Bondo spray putty stuff...)

But I thought his repairs of the interior were great - who knew simple vegetable or olive oil would revamp a leather liner so well? I was also impressed with how he repaired the brass visor trim edging.

Anyway, worth a look.

Cheers, Bungo
 
Restoring objects is what I was trained for, most important is that the item should be brought back in his original condition (as it was before the restoration).
To me this helmet is ruined.
 
I would have thought that it would just be enough to sand down the leather body and do it back up again and not to turn brass to shiny chrome LOL

I am not for that piece of antique.
 
stuka f said:
Restoring objects is what I was trained for, most important is that the item should be brought back in his original condition (as it was before the restoration).
To me this helmet is ruined.
Click to expand...
That’s what I think too. The original look is the best choice, but when a restoration is necessary, the same methods and materials should be used if possible.
 
My thoughts after watching this: First they put in the wrong replacement liner. Obviously this was a beautiful fire officer helmet originally with leather sweatband and red cloth liner. You can see the remains of the cloth when he removes the liner. They installed an OR's style liner...totally incorrect! :ANGRY: Grinding away the original mercury gilding was a travesty, all gilt pieces could have easily been cleaned without doing this. I have never and will never take off all of the original finish from a helmet. :x Obviously, this is the easier/ faster way to do it. My way which takes far more time is to remove the loose bits, sand the bare areas and fill in with replacement shellac. This takes months of building up the new finish, filling in so that it matches the original. This frankly is a pain in the ass as it takes so long and involves so much work....I do not enjoy the process! :ANGRY: However, to my mind, this is the best way to preserve as much originality while restoring things, so it has to be done. Finally, this was obviously a very expensive helmet when made, most definitely to a high ranking officer and they have ruined it! No respect to the craftsman who made it, no respect to the officer that wore it and no respect for History!! :thumbsdown:
 
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