German WW2 WWII m42 Helmet....Camo Painted? NEED IDENTIFICATION

[aarond]

Just found a m42 German helmet with original liner and chinstrap. I think I see markings on inside of steel helmet that read "32 1519". I believe it has original light blue or aqua paint. Is this a type of camo? Does anyone know what this might signify, if anything at all. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

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[NOLA_Ken]

It's going to be pretty difficult to tell you one way or the other from these photos. There are a TON of fakes out there. They are generally real helmets that have been repainted and artificially aged, but there are actually new made helmets out there too. Yours may have been painted as a type of winter camo, The soldiers used anything they could get their hands on so the color isn't out of the question...... Your best bet is to try the Wehrmacht Awards forum. The guys there are pretty good at determining if something is original or not. Wehrmacht-Awards.com Also, there should be another stamping above the 5 digit stamp you mentioned. It should be two or three letters and two numbers. That will be the makers factory code.

 

[aarond]

It's going to be pretty difficult to tell you one way or the other from these photos. There are a TON of fakes out there. They are generally real helmets that have been repainted and artificially aged, but there are actually new made helmets out there too. Yours may have been painted as a type of winter camo, The soldiers used anything they could get their hands on so the color isn't out of the question...... Your best bet is to try the Wehrmacht Awards forum. The guys there are pretty good at determining if something is original or not. Wehrmacht-Awards.com Also, there should be another stamping above the 5 digit stamp you mentioned. It should be two or three letters and two numbers. That will be the makers factory code.

Thanks so much for your help! I will put it to the Wehrmacht guys. Winter camo seems likely. I will try to pick out more letters/numbers on the helmet.

 

[aarond]

Any other help from anybody else would be appreciated!

 

[yaxthri]

Try posting on WW2 Militaria, Uniforms - WW2 Militaria collectors - historians forum. Uniforms, armor, battlefields at War Relics Forum, they sure know their stuff...

 

[b4dwolf]

hey, iv an m42 helmet, exactly same colour, did you get any more info on it ?

 

[b4dwolf]

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I see traces of decals on both sides of your helmet, can you post close ups of them? My first thought looking at the blue-ish color is that it could have been re-painted for use by the Luftschutz (basically Civil Defense) troops. Most of their M42 helmets were factory seconds that didn't pass inspection for use by combat troops, but some were combat helmets that were repainted for their use. Does the blue lie on top of the decals at all? Is there any trace of a decal across the front?

I really need to see good close ups of the decal areas to see what the layering of paint looks like in those areas.

Either way, it's a decent shell, and in rough condition like that would be a good candidate for restoration. There are companies that supply reproduction liners, liner rivets, chinstraps, decals and even paint.
Parts and Liners parts

http://www.atthefrontshop.com/searchresults.asp?cat=190 parts

http://www.atthefrontshop.com/searchresults.asp?cat=176 decals

In its current condition I would expect a value of maybe in the 100$ range, if you put maybe 150$ into a restoration, you could bring it to around a $400+ retail range (depending on size) Look for a stamp in the rim and post that here as well to find out what the shell size is

 

[b4dwolf]

thank you, I do restore a lot of these, its a CKL66 shell, it has been repainted onto bare shell, though decals have been painted around.
thinking that it was rubbed down, carefully around decals, and repainted in blue. have been partially scratched off (maybe post war).
im just interested to know why blue wot does it signify??
I do have luftschuzt helmets, and the ventered police/fire/factory helmets.

 

[gollum]

You also have to remember that several countries used surplus Wermacht Helmets for their Armies and Police Forces after WWII. It could be Norwegian or East German, or one of many others.

MIke

 

[Comanche Todd]

the West Germans also made use of WWII shells for the BGS / Border Guards,and also Police

 

[Goldiver]

This is the first light blue one I have seen. Like was mentioned earlier it may have been used as winter camo. If I was a German soldier at the time I would have had no problem using that color if no white was available rather than sporting a dark colored hemet and having my head stick out like a sore thumb with snow on the ground. The US 30-06 round will go through those helmets like a hot knife through butter.

Steve