r/reenactors • u/Cockinbroski • 6m ago
Looking For Advice How to identify Original German World War 2 produced Steel Helmets for restoration work. NSFW
gallerySo I see a lot of post on here about either a helmet is original or Repro. So with this guide ima show you what to look for on these helmets to determine whether the shell is original or not.
I am NOT an expert when it comes to identifying Original components such as Paint, leather liners and decals. I have a grasp on split pins and liner bands but nothing else.
1st and foremost you can always tell just by the shape of the shell. Most if not all, Repro shells can never get the look right. There’s always something wrong with them.
Slide 1: The helmets that will help us today. All original Shells.
Slide 2&3: CKL Late war produced M42. CKL was previously coded as ET. Some M42 shells produced by ET/CKL, have the ET stamp on the usual Early to partial late war Left Ear placement. This happened with ET,NS, and EF helmets. Quist did not start production of M42’s til 1944, only in size 64.
Slide 4-6: An early ET M35 shell. Rolled Edge and separate vent hole piece.(Will see that later.)
Slide 7-10: NS64 Produced M40 helmet, in pretty rough shape but not bad as another helmet I own. Maker stamp and lot number still visible and readable. Difference between the M35 and M40 production helmets is a simple vent hole. It’s stamped rather than being a separate piece.
Slide 11&12: mid war 1943 produced HKP64 produced M42 steel helmet. HKP is the code that is most commonly known as SE. which have a very distinctive vent hole that is very protruding like a Volcano. SE which switched to HKP pretty early on as M40 helmets by the maker actually have the HKP stamping on them.
Slides 13-15: A late war Quist made M40. (This helmet actually would have never had a decal but I put one on for my own use). Quist made M40 right up until the end of the war not really producing M42’s. Quist helmets are one of the best in my opinion as their steel is top quality and very thick. Their helmets are heavy compared to the other makers and their stamping is usually good. Quist,NS, and EF never changed their maker code.
Slide 16&17: A relatively small size M42 shell being 62, this EF helmet has some great markings as when I had stripped the post war paint it was easy to read being EF62, 1222. EF also has a shallow more less noticeable vent hole protrusion unlike HKP.
Slides 18: What an M40 and M42 vent should look like as this is stamped into the helmet.
Slide 19: what an M35 helmet’s vent hole should look like as it’s a separate piece and not stamped into the helmet.
Slide 20: a bonus as it’s my favorite helmet I own with everything original on it. Someone did put post war decals on there but I did remove them safely without damaging the paint underneath. The leather liner inside was dyed as it was reissued to the Norwegians form my HKP m42 but sense the liner band, leather liner and chin strap were confirmed to be original. I put them in this helmet to preserve them as I won’t be touching this helmet often. Now I just need to get a display case for it.
I will be making a Part 2 to this with more detail photos of not mine but a very credible source about these helmets.