My first attempt at a Reproduction Afrika Korps helmet

Bought the helmet cheap from Sarco, $40 on sale so can't hurt it in any way. Decided to make it an Afrika Korps helmet. I unfortunately don't yet have the reverse decal for it yet. I may end up just painting over that area and leaving it off. Keeping it open for the option for now.

I didn't put a heavy coat on it, most examples I've seen show original green bleed through. The symbol is hand painted using a hand cut out stencil. Wasn't easy but this was done in one attempt. Paint isn't completely dry yet.

So hit me with your opinions, more paint, different shade, scratches?

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../PC15Chx-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../4orljFY-1.jpg

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

What paint did you use?

Further research into helmet decals is the tri-color was no longer put on them after 1940 so maybe I should just paint over that side. Repros show them but they also use decals which were never used for the DAK emblem, all were hand painted.

One helmet is showing a D with a line through it in place of the tri-color as a unit designation and this is white painted over the sand color.

I'm also thinking I should tighten up the paint around the tree to make it less green

---------- Post added at 06:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:53 PM ----------

Behr flat latex enamel. Basketry is the color. They make up little plastic containers of it to use as samples. I could still probably paint 20+ helmets with it.

What about sand? I've seen a couple of originals that look like they mixed sand in the paint.

I decided to eliminate the tri-color decal and tighten up the paint around the tree. I may just slop some heavy paint on it to give it some texture. I did that some already and it looks good. Sand might be cool but not sure how to apply it, wet paint and then more on top I guess.

The reduced green.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../4XZ8ZFT-1.jpg

The reduced green does look much better around the Afrika Korps decal. The Germans did have a Ral number for the sand coloured paint, which I can't remember off the top of my head, that is now obtainable in spray cans.

Looks good!
You might want to put a couple of .303 holes in for added authenticity:thup:

RAL 8031 F9 Sandbraun

That looks awful dark. And much more brown than any actual helmet's I've seen.

But on a side note, their hats and uniforms were originally green and the sun faded them into the famous tan color. Could be the sun did the same thing to the paint.

I've found the bit of paper which I had it written down on, Ral7028, Dunkelgelb or dark yellow if you prefer. I'm not certain that this is the correct colour either but it does look closer to what you have.

That one has a lot of varieties and several of them are pretty close to what i have. I'll probably work on it some more this weekend. Probably a sand coat and then some heavy sloppy paint on top.

Round two of painting. Added sand. Brushed on the paint, sprinkled sand by hand on it and then dab painted over the sand to firmly imbed it. This project also inspired me to get a repro cap to go along with it. Still trying to decide on which insignias I want to put on it. eBay is worthless for these as they put iron crosses where the swastikas belong. I have found a couple of places that claim to be using original patterns but just not sure about them. These two seem the best: https://www.ww2gear.com/image/popup?...XV0lJIFJlcHJv0 https://www.ww2gear.com/image/popup?...1dJSSBSZXBybw2

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../CwbYku6-1.jpg

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

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../KSisa4l-1.jpg

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

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

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../C481N4m-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../0mqgjy0-1.jpg

Don't think I've ever seen them with sand in the paint...mostly worn examples.

Surviving helmets were worn in Europe so sand colored ones are pretty rare to begin with. But my research indicated that they initially simply sprayed them the sand color but the sun hardened the paint and made them shine so they started putting sand on them and from that point on the sand stayed on but yes, the sand can be easily knocked off with use, putting it on the ground, carrying it off the head, etc.

This obviously represents a new helmet freshly painted and not having seen any combat. A true "rarity"

I just realized I painted the vent holes shut. This is another thing mentioned about desert use. They kept the vent holes clear.

I found an original helmet yesterday online that has sand and looks pretty similar to mine. It also looks like it may have had desert paint on it under the green.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../Bvoe4Zt-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../4mKozHg-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../iOZl2je-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../xOYv6Tb-1.jpg

Got my second repro helmet today. I'm going to turn this one into a Nationalist Chinese helmet because that's another one I'll never be able to afford. This one has a Chinese white sun on a blue background. These also were painted on, not decals but I was able to locate a stencil for it that unfortunately is in England and is going to take 6 weeks to get here, at least that's what they say.

I think the Chinese helmets are smooth however, not sure why they have sand in their example. I need to research this a bit more. All my information points to them being shipped with original paint which was smooth at the time.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../1zzu8FD-1.jpg

Original helmet

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

I finished the helmet today. I wasn't initially happy with it as the second stencil seemed to pull a lot of paint off with it but I used very fine sandpaper on it and rubbed it down a bit and it now looks a little aged. I think I'll leave it alone. If I try removing it and doing it over I'll probably make a bigger mess of things and the stencil might do the same thing again. I think what happened was I rushed it with the spray can too close and filled it with too much paint.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../k4FxcGw-1.jpg

Looks pretty good I think.

I don't suppose the originals were perfect, especially the Chinese ones, no disrespect to the Chinese.

I finished up the cap. M40 forage cap had to be ordered separate from the insignia. It was a nightmare to sew on the eagle. The square wasn't so bad. I'm happy with how it came out. These were apparently all hand sewn on and quality of the sewing isn't much better than mine. The second cap did come with the insignia already on so it looks a lot nicer. These caps are both supposed to be very accurate reproductions and from looking at originals, I believe they are. Second cap is with my original Luftwaffe helmet.

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

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../3SjERt0-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../4wstSpD-1.jpg

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

The cloth badges look fine when compared against original Heer badges. Some of the originals don't look perfect when you look closely at them. I know that these are original because they were brought back from the continent, at the end of the war, by a British soldier and given to my father in the late 1940's. The new/unused ones came out of a Wehrmacht supply depot as it was being liberated by British soldiers.

Yes, I had three different originals on the computer I was looking at while doing this one. Only one of the three was better than this one so I'm happy with it. I'm just a perfectionist so I notice every little mistake. A fourth one was really bad because it was heavily frayed. These do fray pretty easy I discovered. I cut them about 3/16th from the embroidery and then cut up to the embroidery at the corners. Folded them under which was difficult and then sewed. The top was the easiest because I sewed it on from the back having it upside down. Then just folded it over and down. The corners all frayed a bit. The circle I just folded under the best I could as that looked like how the originals were done.

The eagle took about an hour and a half, the square maybe half an hour. I would not want a job doing this.