WWI British MkI Brodie Helmet Restoration

[25-5]

Nicely done. Enjoyed the thread.

[browningautorifle]

Very nice looking...

[Peter Laidler]

Finding the 'right' colour of paint, even with a spec, especially an old wartime spec must be a bit of a nightmare. When I was restoring my old 1969 MIni Cooper during the early 80's I could never establish the metallic silver colour that Dunlop used to paint the wheels. So I used to carry a big wodge of silver paint mix colour chips and every time I saw a Mini or 1100 (another BMC rust bucket made from water soluble steel.....) I would lean down and see what was the closest match. There were hundreds of them! Even Dunlop just said the paint was just a 'service silver'. So I just bit the bullet and did them in a, well......., silver! Mind you, Dunlop were a bit like BMC with their lack of extravagance in paint with the motto 'never knowingly over painted'. The paint was about a micron thick. Just like the cars!

[peregrinvs]

I haven't done anything new to the Brodie helmet, but I did get a ball pein hammer yesterday so watch this space...

On the general theme of WWI British helmets, you might find this late 1930's Civil Defence helmet I recently acquired of interest. It's a MkI* helmet - a WWI MkI helmet rebuilt in the late 1930's as war clouds gathered with a new liner, chinstrap and chinstrap lugs.
Attachment 83165Attachment 83168Attachment 83170Attachment 83167Attachment 83166Attachment 83169Attachment 83171
This was supposedly the most common type of helmet used by the BEF in France in 1939-40 - which may explain why they are now much scarcer than the MkII helmets that replaced them.

The black paint appears to have been applied over the original textured khaki paint. It also looks like the dents were acquired before it was refurbished, so it's tempting to imagine they'd been made by German shrapnel balls 20 years earlier. The 'HS' marking means the shell was made by Hadfields Ltd of Sheffield circa 1916-18 and the replacement liner is 1938 dated.

I'm rather fond of it - being a 'two world wars for the price of one' helmet. It could after all have hypothetically survived incoming German ordnance during both the Battle of Passchendaele and the Blitz...

[bigduke6]

but I did get a ball pein hammer yesterday so watch this space...

Mark there is a Knack to riveting, one is the rivet is a tight fit, the other is right length, on the start you need to have the back or "made" side of the rivet on a good solid base if its rounded etc a dolly in that form is recommended, am not going to teach you suck eggs but its just the basics, if your good at knocking nails in without sore fingers then you should be ok.........

When I was an Apprentice we had to make our own from welding rod, a lot of lads chose to do it there way....... I just listened to the instructor and followed suit, we had to form one end first, although it was suppose to be at least some form of angle most ended up like mushrooms on the first attempt, I expect your rivet to be different as we were riveting are tools together and had to be as tight as a ducks a**e..... once all done and made good you couldn't see them (if you were good)

See link the two links below post #17, when I did a No5 bayonet and some of the tools I had to make post #16 , like an old mate of mine says, we were trained to file within a thou of an inch, now I can get it spot on.

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=40522&page=2

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=40615&page=2

[peregrinvs]

Phew! Sorted at last - thanks to the ball pein hammer and an anvil improvised from a large nut and bolt. It wasn't actually that difficult in the end - definitely a case of needing the right tool for the right job.
Attachment 83231Attachment 83230Attachment 83232
Not the neatest example, but I've never done it before and it seems to be secure so I shall count it as a success.

[peregrinvs]

So that just left a final coat of paint over the exterior and adding the chinstrap. I also gave it a top coat of matt lacquer. I did this as I've been using tester pot paint which isn't intended to be permanent and I wanted to make it more durable. An additional advantage is that it gives it a slight sheen that makes it look more like an oil paint rather than emulsion.
Attachment 83235Attachment 83236Attachment 83239Attachment 83238Attachment 83234Attachment 83237Attachment 83233
Well it's almost finished... I have somehow managed to lose the split pin supplied to secure the open end of the chinstrap. Not a biggie as I've ordered some more in brass that should hopefully look more interesting.

Alas though it is still imperfect as it is a MkI and it has no rim. Unfortunately I don't have the skills or kit to make a new one and I am loathe to rob one off a lesser value helmet. (Which probably wouldn't fit properly anyway) C'est la vie - it is what it is. Overall I'm very pleased with it.

PS. And thank you to my 13 Pounder HE shell for lending its support to this photographic session.

PPS. Not dissimilar original example on the Imperial War Museum website:
The Brodie Helmet | National Army Museum, London

[browningautorifle]

Are you going to cover it with a dab of paint? Too late, you were adding as I posted. looks great now...

[Flying10uk]

I was taught that as a general rule of thumb, the amount of free rivet that you allow sticking out of the metal equates to about the diameter of the rivet. But in the real world sometimes a little more or a little less is required depending on what style of rivet head that you intend to form.

Later edit. How can you tell the difference between a rimmed MK1 or MK1* helmet shell of WW1 vintage and a MK2 shell of WW2 vintage, ignoring any liner which may or may not be present?

[peregrinvs]

How can you tell the difference between a rimmed MK1 or MK1* helmet shell of WW1 vintage and a MK2 shell of WW2 vintage, ignoring any liner which may or may not be present?

Massively summarising... there are various differences in the shell shape, chinstrap attachments and stamped maker marks. The earliest helmets also lacked a steel rim protector. In the case of the markings, WWI British helmets tend to be marked with 2-3 letter initials followed by a 2-3 digit batch number. WWII helmets tend to have both maker marks and the year of manufacture. I suggest you have a browse through here:

Military - Britain - The Brodie Helmet and its derivatives