WWII Luftschutze Gladiator Helmet

[John737]

Since I'm studying abroad in Vienna, Austria, I thought it'd be cool to try to pick up some German militaria for the collection back home. So this morning, while passing by the famous Flohmarkt, I spotted a nice looking Luftschutze helmet sitting on a vendor's table. As the 35 Euro price wasn't ludicrous and I was a little pressed for time, I made the decision to just buy it.

I got back home and studied it further. Looking inside, the liner was in astonishingly good condition.



At first, I was a bit skeptical that perhaps the liner was a post-war replacement, but I was immediately reassured and pleased to find a marking "WERKLUFTSCHUTZLEITUNG G. & W. HELLER, WIEN" stamped on the leather. Plus the sizing/Luftschutze mark is still there. And then I made the mistake of flipping it over.



What a mess. Not only the worst looking sticker I've ever seen on a helmet, but it appears as though a five year old decided to slob black paint over it so he could play Darth Vader. I was pinching myself pretty hard for not looking any closer than I did at the outside. Took it to a collector, and he pretty much confirmed my observations.

So, here's my question to the good members of this forum: should I try my luck at restoring this helmet? At the least, I want to try to remove the ugly sticker, and at the most I would love to take off that layer of glob-like black paint. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience in this field? Is it even wise to attempt such an endeavor without ruining the helmet? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[A. F Medic]

I would consider that helmet as part of my learning curve. I bought a real helmet where the swastika was out on upside down and I did not see it!

Find an image of a real helmet and see how far you are off. Besides the decal. Remove the decal and see what you have. Step by step.
You probably will not be able to match the black patina of a unrestored helmat but you might come close if you go to an auto body shop and tell them that you are thinking about repainting it. They should have a color match system.................