German Soldier stuff

[MausRatte]

I'm trying to turn this old biker helmet into a Fallschirmjäger helmet, how do you think it'll do?

I'll also be recieving this helmet sometime around Christmas, just wanted to know if I could get netting for it and make it into an SS helmet. I'd also like to know what kind of soldier used it, like Motorized infantry, Guard, etc.

 

[Colonel__Klink]

Is your biker helmet steel? If its fiberglass you CAN transform it with minimal tools into the shape of the other helmet posted. The enjoyable thing about fiberglass and fiber epoxy resin materials is that you really will struggle to find a way to screw it up to the point that the project is beyond hope of recovery and repair. Because of this you can add on fiberglass material to act as the lip and upper ear protection on the actual historic helmet and then sand to polish.

If that helmet is steel then you have a much tougher task ahead. This is because you will need to weld to get it done. You'd need to perfectly bond the steel on the existing helmet to the material extension. The trick is doing it in such a way that there is minimal warping of the helmet shape. Once that is done you will need to clean up the welds so that the material is smooth and seamless. THEN because I highly doubt you'd accomplish all this without warping or in the ideal lip shape right away you'd have to get your dishing hammer out and reshape the metal to be ideal. After all that you still have to parkerize the thing too!

Either way its going to be a fair bit of work.

 

[VonMudra]

The helmet will never accurately show an FJ helmet, it simply is of the wrong shape. No amount of shaving/transforming is really going to be able to stretch out the shape to match the curves and form of the FJ helmet, much less fact that that thing's liner is quite different, and has quite a bit different set up on riveting. My suggestion would be to simply get a repro FJ helm for like 70-100 bucks, unless you want to shell out 2-3000 for an original, which I doubt you do.


As for the other, I assume you just got a repro? That's just a standard Stahlhelm, used by all branches of service throughout the war in various models with minor cosmetic differences (like rolled brim, complexity of vent holes, etc). You can really do whatever you like, but if you want an actually correct paint job, I'd send it to Alexander and Sons for a full paintwork.

http://www.alexanderandsonsrestorations.com/

In terms of SS stuff, this is the kind of work he can do to make it actually look like a war-time SS helm:

http://www.alexanderandsonsrestorat...for-sale/m42-size-6658-ss-italian-front-camo/

In terms of FJ helmets, FJ helms are the one the few German helms he will work with repros on, due to the exorbitant cost of original FJ helmets (and the general poor quality of Stahlhelm repros, no one can ever seem to get the shape right, something is always exaggerated. The latest runs of repro WW1 Stahlhelms flooding the market have been termed 'duckbill-brim' helmets for a reason....). This is a good example of his work:

http://www.alexanderandsonsrestorations.com/project/m38-fj-three-color-camo-whalf-wire-basket/

 

[Feldmeijer]

I'd send it to Alexander and Sons for a full paintwork./

Don't buy any T-shirts from that them though...

what a feilure..

 

[VonMudra]

Yeah, I spoke to him about that, he spotted the error that the manufacturer made, but the shirt manufacturer had already made them. So he's had to sell them as is.

 

[Pjosip]

Umm, I have dificulties understanding where the error is.

 

[VonMudra]

The shirt maker spelt 'field' as 'feild'

Also, I should note, this thread should be in Rec Room, not General Discussion.

 

[Colonel__Klink]

I'll agree with VonMudra to an extent on this one. Unless you really know what your doing you cant get the right shape out of it. You'd even have to tear off the existing rivets, fill the holes with weld filler or fiberglass depending what your helmet is made out of as well as adding material to make the lip and even then the helmet itself might need to be heated and reshaped a bit. Its definitely far more work than its actually worth. And if its made out of fiberglass then your going to have a cheap looking imitation instead of an imitation that looks quality.

 

[calgoblin]

Also, I should note, this thread should be in Rec Room, not General Discussion.

Agreed.

 

[VonMudra]

I'll agree with VonMudra to an extent on this one. Unless you really know what your doing you cant get the right shape out of it. You'd even have to tear off the existing rivets, fill the holes with weld filler or fiberglass depending what your helmet is made out of as well as adding material to make the lip and even then the helmet itself might need to be heated and reshaped a bit. Its definitely far more work than its actually worth. And if its made out of fiberglass then your going to have a cheap looking imitation instead of an imitation that looks quality.

Yeah, that's the main issue. He'd need to kinda be an expert in working fiberglass to get it anywhere near the shape, and even then it's gonna be a pretty cheap looking imitation (and I doubt there's anything that could be done about the rolled brim edge).