Repro German Paratrooper helmet

I don't usually go in for repros much but found this at a flea market today and it was pretty cheap even as repros go. Quality also seems pretty decent. It's like new so I'm debating what I want to do with it. No decals on it so that's the first consideration. Maybe some camo paint or a net. Not trying to pass it off as an original, doubt the quality is that good anyway. Any good sites for finding this kind of stuff?

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../TzC44II-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../eRc9FRo-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../mqofQme-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../Y2z6NpS-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../X0lm5HY-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../EuemY9i-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../r8wJlLI-1.jpg

Decals seem easy enough. They sell pairs for $3. Covers cost more than I paid for the helmet, haven't found a net yet. Any why would you pay 800 British pounds for a repro helmet?

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Any why would you pay 800 British pounds for a repro helmet?

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I saw a repro in my local militaria shop recently and mentioned the price of originals...I guess a guy could trade his house for one...frightening. Repros were bad enough.

If you are looking for examples of actual M38s try this site... German Helmet Vault Collecting German WW2 helmets

Well I know I am extremely unlikely to ever own an original one and this one was $40. I just can't decide if I'd rather have a new looking example or a battle used looking one. Probably leaning toward newer but with decals.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

No decals on it so that's the first consideration. Maybe some camo paint or a net. Not trying to pass it off as an original, doubt the quality is that good anyway. Any good sites for finding this kind of stuff?

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Camo paint in tri-colour vehicle colours (Dunkelgelb base with Olivgrün & Rotbraun camo patterns) was very much the norm for the Fallschirmjager units during the Normandy campaign (with or without side decals).
There is a company in UK that sells repro nets for the Fallscirmjager helmets (about GB£20) but from friends that used to be involved in reenactment here in UK that did Fallscrimjager, nets were not as common as they were used by USA/British Para's. Material helmet covers for normal helmets as well as the para helmets were far more commonly seen, usually of the same splinter pattern camo as per the Zeltbahn.
Soldier of Fortune in the UK sell those as well.....

https://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/m38-pa...er-by-fab.html

There must be places in the US selling similar, but the only one I remember is At The Front, and they strangely don't list one anymore?

I purchased a similar para helmet for about £50 and I am very pleased with it. The previous owner had already put the decals on it but left the helmet in new condition. Putting the decals on another German helmet proved to be a bit of a nightmare. It looked easy when someone else was demonstrating on Youtube but not so easy when trying to do it yourself.

I did buy a 2nd similar helmet for a similar price that had been sprayed in camo finish but somehow that doesn't quite look as good.

I’ve seen the covers but don’t care for the look, plus they cost more than I paid for the helmet. Camo paint I like but need to pick a style. Good to know about the nets. I haven’t found one for this helmet, maybe that’s why. I’ve only seen a couple of photos of repro helmets with them and I did like how they looked. I see a lot that seem to have one string of wire running around about an inch off the base.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

I’ve seen the covers but don’t care for the look, plus they cost more than I paid for the helmet. Camo paint I like but need to pick a style. Good to know about the nets. I haven’t found one for this helmet, maybe that’s why. I’ve only seen a couple of photos of repro helmets with them and I did like how they looked. I see a lot that seem to have one string of wire running around about an inch off the base.

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Like I said, the Germans rarely used a net. I can think of only a couple of original photo's that show Fallschy's wearing a net on a helmet.
There's pretty much only two camo styles to choose from, either a all over wash of Dunkelgelb over the grey, commonly seen in the Med and Italian theatre's, or the tri-colour adopted in Normandy in the summer and autumn of '44.
The splinter pattern covers that you don't like were by far the most adopted means of camo used by the Fallschirmjager.

I found a better source for the splinter covers. That would be the easiest way to go and keep the helmet "new". There seem to be several variations of the splinter camo. IMA offers one which they claim is correct as opposed to the majority on the market being incorrect. Yet in researching IMA's looks to be the Army version of splinter with the Luftwaffe being a darker color.

IMA https://www.ima-usa.com/collections/...th-metal-hooks

Ebay offers: Replica Fallschirmjager Paratrooper M38 Helmet Cover Splinter Camo Color | eBay

This is getting frustrating. I have numerous very detailed books on the Luftwaffe and the Army uniforms. Neither book includes the paratroopers. I have three other books which are on German and/or WWII uniforms. Two photos of the paratroopers, no splinter pattern camo.

Found another book with color photos of several paratroopers. I am now thinking IMA is full of crap, no example anywhere near this color combination. The other example isn't a whole lot better however, it's a little too dark.

Looking again, IMA may be the best after all. Starting to hate German camo. Trying to judge a photo on a screen to a photo in a book is apples and oranges.

I was under the impression that the Germans tried many variations of pattern of camouflage material for their uniforms. Perhaps a number of variations of camo style were used for the helmet nets?

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

I was under the impression that the Germans tried many variations of pattern of camouflage material for their uniforms. Perhaps a number of variations of camo style were used for the helmet nets?

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Including enemy helmet covers and nets:
British para net and US para cloth

Attachment 114993Attachment 114994

They did, and the paratroopers had numerous examples as well depending where they were serving. Eastern front they had a dark brown mix, early war it was just grey, Normandy was the splinter type which there seems to be two versions of. The problem is most of these are made in China and they are going off what they see from old samples or old faded uniforms. IMA claims to have the accurate color and they may and this is what I've more or less decided to go with if I can figure out which one really is correct. I have color drawings to go off of and a lot of black and white photos which are basically useless.

---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------

As Bear said, they used allied materials also. I'm thinking of doing it with chicken wire and they even had American chicken wire which is great because that's what I have.

Continued research on this and went at it from another direction and had some positive results. The IMA cover simply did not look right. Bands are too wide, color is off. Finally found some decent period photos which showed much narrower bands than al the repros I've seen up to today. Found a cover at Hessen Antique that looked right in size of bands and color of camo pattern. Found three photos with this same color/band size. Ordered a set of decals to go along with it.

Hessian Antique is a good company. I have ordered many items from them with no problems.

Cover came. Very tight fit. I didn't put the decals on it and as hard as this cover was to get on, I may not. Seems to be very well made, best one I've seen actually. Color looks good, I like it.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../sWWrzTg-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../U9AWwdB-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../Iq5m6Cy-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../YQ0mpkM-1.jpg

Got to say, I like them better without the cover.

It grows on you. I didn't like the photos of them I've seen either but holding it in person it looks more complete I guess. Everything just looks too "new" which it is.

Maybe that's it, too new.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Cover came. Very tight fit. I didn't put the decals on it and as hard as this cover was to get on, I may not. Seems to be very well made, best one I've seen actually. Color looks good, I like it.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../sWWrzTg-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../U9AWwdB-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../Iq5m6Cy-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../YQ0mpkM-1.jpg

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Looks good :thup:

So today I was bored because of being iced in and I dug out the decals, took the cover off and put them on. Now I have a lot of experience with this type of decal as I'm an experience model builder. But I haven't done one in years. Did the eagle first and lost the tip of the wing. Got it repositioned but it simply wouldn't stay on. Ended up gluing it on with Elmers. Not the best choice but it worked. The other side went smoothly.

Figured the best way to keep the things on were to spray paint them with clear paint which they even recommend so I got a can and did just that. The damn decals bubbled up with little tiny bubbles. Actually makes them look aged if you can believe it. Can hardly notice on the eagle, the flag side is a bit more pronounced.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Actually makes them look aged

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Pics...you know...

No rest for the weary with you guys. It's a learning experience if nothing else.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../S1Ggzbs-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../7cqq5pl-1.jpg

It does look good too. The decals would take a beating over time anyway so the wingtip doesn't matter. Like you say, hardly see it. Nice.

The wingtip initially broke off in one piece. In the first 10 attempts to position it, it broke into two pieces. After that I had it perfectly positioned three times but each time on the "final" attempt to get the water out from under it, it moved. Finally got it positioned, water free and left it sit to dry for a couple hours picked it up. ran my fingers across it carefully and the damn thing came right off stuck to my finger. The glue was all gone. So I by this time had two pieces stuck to two different fingers and I'm trying to find glue, get the bottle open and on the helmet. First attempt, the middle piece broke into three pieces and one was destroyed. So that tip is slightly shorter than it should be and is missing a small chunk in the middle. But it isn't really that noticeable and with the bubbling, more or less fits in anyway. What I don't quite get is why the bubbles are so tiny and perfectly formed. I would have thought the entire thing would have lifted and curled, etc. It's just odd. I could scuff the entire thing up some in some dirt or sand but I'm reluctant to do that. Maybe after I see some examples where it's been done.

We have a genuine German Para Helmet in the museum from the Battle for Crete valued at £40,000 with full provenance FYI

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Originally Posted by Gil Boyd

We have a genuine German Para Helmet in the museum from the Battle for Crete valued at £40,000 with full provenance FYI

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When I was involved with 1st AB Recce Living History Group 25 odd years ago, a couple of the guys (incl one of the leading members who was ex-Para Regt) also did Fallschirmjager as well, and they had a WW2 Fallschrimjager veteran, that used to help them with getting stuff right and correct. He'd been in Crete and fought at Monte Cassino before being taken POW and sent to a POW camp in UK. He never went back to Germany and stayed in the UK and married an English girl. Clearly a tough man, even when he was in his late 70's, but was always humbling to see him having a laugh and a beer with ex-1st AB Recce vets as members of the airborne brotherhood.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

spray paint them with clear paint

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I found that an oil based clear varnish worked ok without bubbles or blistering when applied with a small, fine modeller's paint brush. The sort of varnish that you may use when decorating your home.

The problem with using a spray lacquer out of a can is the solvents that may be contained in the lacquer to enable it to be sprayed which can affect existing surfaces/finishes, in this case decals.

The finished result looks good and, as I found out, it's not as easy as it looks when trying to do it yourself, as seeing someone else doing it on Youtube.

Geeram,
You must have come to Duxford on occasion with Mark and company?

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Originally Posted by Gil Boyd

Geeram,
You must have come to Duxford on occasion with Mark and company?

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No.
ABF Museum was still at Aldershot when I was involved with 1st AB Recce.......last event I did with the group will be 20 years ago this coming summer...!!!

We have them coming to our showing of THEIRS IS THE GLORY film on Arnhem week in September.:thup:

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Originally Posted by Gil Boyd

We have them coming to our showing of THEIRS IS THE GLORY film on Arnhem week in September.:thup:

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Not the same guys I was involved with though, which was the one affiliated to the now disbanded Recce Veterans Association.

Here are my 2 repro WW2 German para helmets which I purchased 2nd hand off eBay but they were in new condition. They are both basically the same repro helmet by the look of it but one of the previous owners decided to give one the "cammo-look". I haven't done anything to them apart from varnish the decals on the grey example. I am very pleased with these repro helmets for what they are, the price and when this is compared to the asking price of an original.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

Here are my 2 repro WW2 German para helmets which I purchased 2nd hand off eBay but they were in new condition. They are both basically the same repro helmet by the look of it but one of the previous owners decided to give one the "cammo-look".

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That tri-colour camo scheme was commonly used by the FJ in the Normandy campaign, the camo colours being copied from the scheme used on German vehicles and armour at the time.