My first attempt at a Reproduction Afrika Korps helmet

[Aragorn243]

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.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Flying10uk]

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.

[Aragorn243]

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.