Spanish Model Z M42 Helmet

I thought that this video is quite good because it shows the early type liner as well as describing this style of Spanish helmet.

Helmets of the World: Spanish Model Z (M1942) - YouTube

Trying on one of these Spanish helmets, on one's head, does give a surprising sense of excellent all round head protection, including a good proportion of the sides and rear of the head. This feeling may well be largely psychological but the feeling that the sides of the head are well protected is there, in my opinion.

I called an antique mall out on one of these two days ago. They have one in a glass case that someone put a couple of Nazi decals on, roughed them up a bit and then slapped a $385.00 price on it calling it a German WWII helmet. Either the dealer got taken or he's trying to take an unsuspecting buyer. In any case, it's fraud and I left the owners of the place know about it.

Do you mean this is not a genuine WW2 German Stahlhelm?
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Just kidding! When my son was 12, he wanted a German helmet so he could play war. Since $400 plus was out of my budget, I found a stripped Spanish helmet for $20 and repainted it, applied reproduction decals (crappy!) and put an M1 liner inside. Worked great!
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The thing is, making a Spanish helmet look WW2 Germanish mucks up a genuine Spanish army helmet. Obviously the Spanish army needed steel helmets and they wore helmets based on the German design but made and finished them to Spanish specifications and not looking like perverted Wehrmacht helmets. For every Spanish helmet that someone has tried to make into a German army helmet there is one less genuine, original Spanish helmet.

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Originally Posted by BEAR

put an M1 liner inside

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Recognized it straight away...last pattern of snap out head harness. Guys used to throw those in the wash machine and dryer...then they wouldn't fit.

Well, 17 years ago Spanish helmets didn't have much collector value in the Pacific Northwest and this one was just a beat up shell, so no foul! They still are not very desired out here by helmet collectors but I am sure they have a following. This helmet will never be sold as a Stahlhelm.

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Originally Posted by BEAR

Well, 17 years ago Spanish helmets didn't have much collector value in the Pacific Northwest and this one was just a beat up shell, so no foul! They still are not very desired out here by helmet collectors but I am sure they have a following. This helmet will never be sold as a Stahlhelm.

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I was referring in general terms not specifically to you. No disrespect intended.

A lot of reenactors used Spanish helmets as they were affordable and wouldn't cause harm to a real German helmet. Quite possibly how the helmet I saw found it's way into an antique shop. The dealer may not have any idea it isn't real and overpaid for it himself.

You have to be very cautious with these things. I found an M34 fire police helmet yesterday that i considered buying but I cannot verify that it is a WWII item. It does not have standard helmet markings and the liner does not look the same as examples I can find. It's in good shape, the price isn't bad if it's real but I am going to pass on it for those reasons. They made them into the 60's and there are numerous variations of both the WWII ones and the post war ones and unfortunately there does not seem to to be a website that specifically shows how to tell them apart.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

I was referring in general terms not specifically to you. No disrespect intended.

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None taken, just an explanation of how that helmet came to be.

I've got a repro badge hopefully on it's way to me for my Spanish helmet to replace the one that's nearly always missing on Spanish Helmets.

I have a SPANISH M42 and also the M42 / 79 with updated web liner

they resemble a WW2 German M42 late war helmet but the steel is not as strong and a little thinner & lighter than a German shell , the Spanish military also had some original German mfg shells that they converted (recycled) for use by SPAIN, much harder to find and not very common.

the quality is not as well made as a real German helmet

I have seen the German scam done many times over the years. I gave up saying anything as the dealer would call me out and say I was wrong and go on that it was a bring back.

The repro Spanish helmet badge duly arrived and it certainly looks good on the helmet.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

The repro Spanish helmet badge duly arrived and it certainly looks good on the helmet.

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I know that this is an older thread, but would you care to reveal your source for the repro badge? I've been searching for one, real or repro, to no avail.

Thanks!

Sarco has some of the gold Franco eagle badges but not the multi color ones. That's what I put on mine. I believe it is the appropriate one for WWII. The other is pre and post Franco I think. Not positive on that however.

That shiny bird with the scarlet cross in the middle of it would surely make a great aiming point.....

They were removed before going into combat. These are simply for peace time operations.

Cheers for that. Yes, I'm familiar with the SARCO offerings, but am looking for the type with the red enamel cross.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

They were removed before going into combat. These are simply for peace time operations.

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Yeah, I figured. :)