This is one of my latest creations and represents many days of frustrated artistry whereby I just couldn't get the paint job to look right until after a few glass of dark Cuban rum I had a eureka moment and finally got the crude look I was after. The helmet has a nice run of the mill sloppy late war Normandy camo pattern with lots crude brush strokes and natural aging.
The helmet was made at the Essenwerkes factory in city of Thale in the year 1938 according to it's rear lot number 3652 so this helmet definitely saw quite a lot of action throughout the war. The liner is 1940 dated and reflects an interesting transition period when re-enforced aluminum square bale liners were being phased out and replaced by rounded aluminum or zinc bale. This particular liner represents both the pre-1940 square bale and the post 1940 rounded version.
The inside liner is 100% original to the helmet and is made from goat skin with the appropriate size marking of 57. All 3 brass split pins are early war manufactured and are also original to the helmet. So with both it's original liner system and 3 untouched split pins there is a lot of historical and investment potential being offered here. The outside paint job is obviously post war by yours truly as is the ET Heer eagle which is metallic silver and has been faded so that it blends into the shell. Overall I think this helmet would look great on any shelf and most would probably mistake it for the real deal especially once they flip it over and see it's original 1940 liner system still intact and untouched.
$400 SOLD - Darren D.
Please call, text or email me if interested.
Tel/Text: 1-438-502-5052
Email Us: helmetsofwar@gmail.com
GERMAN HELMET FACTORY PRODUCTION CODES
(Every original German helmet produced from 1935 to 45 had two factory stampings punched into the side and rear or both in the rear. The alpha numeric number refers to the factory location and the inside metric circumference in centimeters. The rear lot number refers to the production run and was used as a quality control measure. The font styles used at each factory were slightly different but highly consistent throughout the war and so fakes or reproductions will either not have these numbers at all or they will use the wrong font style or letter spacing and so are easily identified as post war made.)
(FS or EF)-Emaillierwerke AG, Fulda, Germany
(ET or ckl)-Eisenhuttenwerke, Thale, Germany
(Q)-Quist, Esslingen, Germany
(NS)-Vereinigte Deutsche Nikelwerke, Schwerte, Germany
(SE or hkp)-Sachsische Emaillier u. Stanzwerke, Lauter, Germany
