British Pre WW2 helmet help/advice needed

[mnmkeller]

Good bit of white and I think there may be a white band based on some small bits on the sides.

Not sure about the blue but the base brown is visible in some spot and either dirty white or khaki under the rim.

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[jond41403]

I tend to agree, it seems impossible to take one layer of paint off without at least altering the color underneath it.

[browningautorifle]

it seems impossible to take one layer of paint off without at least altering the color underneath it.

I have a Mk3 helmet I picked up from overseas and brought home 45 years back, had a national flag on the side that was painted over. I wanted to confirm what flag and carefully used some acetone and a rag. I dabbed just at the one spot to eventually expose the flag, that was all I removed. The rest would have been pointless, it would have been UK olive covered by Greek truck paint.

[mnmkeller]

Part of my original reason for posting was to see if anyone had been successful trying to do this other than professionals.

I'm seeing not a lot to build hope on here.

[mnmkeller]

I used some citristrip with q tips and have uncovered a bit of the white but no def pattern yet. I may switch to acetone to try that but I mainly need to work in a good light source.

[browningautorifle]

I may switch to acetone

That's real fast and unforgiving...but you knew that.

[mnmkeller]

The citrustrip is slow as it softens the paint and works ok when done in small areas and is cleaned off after a few minutes. Pics to come.

[mnmkeller]

So I wasn't overly pleased at first...until I took a pic and stopped focusing on the small details and saw the bigger picture..so to speak.

I will be switching to smaller tools and a magnifying glass soon to help pinpoint the remaining green covering white as I can see an inverted pentagon as well as a hexagon near the top. So would these be on what should be the back or front of the helmet?

Those are the largest swatches of white but I will try to work on some of the smaller and more linear areas in the future. Sadly it looks like the two forms I uncovered have a good bit of brown showing through so they were likely roughed up even before the green paint was applied.

Any ideas on what these shapes could indicate?

[Aragorn243]

I did an acetone wipe down of a German helmet that had silver paint on it. It's here somewhere. I was scrubbing away and rather vigorously at this one spot that didn't seem to want to come clean and then about lost it when I realized I was scrubbing a Luftwaffe eagle decal. Fortunately, I did no damage. Turned out to be a three color camo paint job with single decal helmet. My $20 investment jumped a couple hundred dollars real fast.

[mnmkeller]

So time for an update..overall very pleasing results...but i am struggling with my technique and making some mistakes based mainly on fatigue and inexperience.

I used citristrip which works pretty well when the white paint is thick but it is unforgiving when it is thin and i have had a bit of white paint loss on the side compared to the front. I did expose what looks like a red diamond on what would be the left side. If you look closely you can see the wrinkled paint which i know will be a loss including the white.

My goal at this point is to switch to acetone and be more patient..use a smaller area and keep it to short shifts so I dont become overly aggressive. I also think i will take this to work where I can make use of my hour lunch break and some bright outdoor light.