Re painting German helmets

I had these repro M42 Helmets and wasn't happy with the colour and finish. After much research I discovered most German helmets left the factory with a standard 'Grau' or grey finish and it was up to the owner of the helmet to repaint if they wished. Many helmets were repainted when the owner came across a tank crew or vehicle crew repainting their tank/truck, quite literally 'Hey pal, how about a quick spray for my helmet'! Looking at hundreds of photos I discovered that very few where painted in camouflage colours but where usually just a matt finish grey (Dunkelgrau) or green (Feldgrau)
So in an effort to improve the authenticity of my films I started on my helmets...What do you think? ....better?

[@masudaharris6435]

I've seen enough of the real helmets to be able to recognize an original finish, but you had me fooled with your opening shots.

[@Danny344S]

I just got done painting my m42 and it turned out very good thanks for having a nice video to watch I used a small amount of aluminum oxide to give a slight texture I didn’t want to over do it so only used a small salt pinch then I moved it around a little to spread it out then finished it with another small layer of paint.

[@TheT1nMan]

German helmets were never corked. For texturing you want to use very fine aluminum oxide, which is available from a number of helmet restoration websites. They used it as a blasting medium in the factories and then reused it during painting for ultra-fine texture.

[@willyb7353]

I have an original, post ww2, lots of dents on the back side. Whoever was wearing it, I bet they weren't having a good day! So anyways, I decided to paint the old thing. Some kids had painted it with some cheap black paint, and put a brush painted ss symbol on it, not genuine of course. So, me being me, I start removing the stuff. I saw a little bit of green left, but not nearly enough to make it look presentable. So I remove all the paint, put on some primer, and sprayed some green paint on it. It looks much better! Thanks for the video, dancing dog!

[@TheGrolschman]

The m 42 was wrong it is a single decal in the beginning from the production of this helmet and later on no decal

[@mdimansantoso3976]

Much better if you use aluminum oxide for a smooth rough texture.

[@TheGreatest1974]

Good video mate. That’s a very nice copy of an m42. Would look great in normandy camo spray job.

[@thekommisarfirstsecretary]

Im using aluminum oxide for texture as sand is a little large. It doesn't really matter because they were frequently overpainted in the field. When using aluminum oxide and enamel paint, I'll bake it in the oven on a very low setting for an hour or so, 150° . It actually melds the aluminum oxide and enamel paint into a super strong paint . I did it with restoring coleman lanterns and just transferred the process to helmets( no A.O) on lanterns though . Corked M1s I lower the temp and time so as not to burn it.( not sure if that has or ever could happen ,it's just something that I THINK might happen if temp was too high or in too long. Good video, tips are always good for those of us unwilling or incapable of shelling out the ridiculous amounts of loot that Nazi junk costs. I have (1) M35. I collect allied only, M1s and M1917s. (Except that 1 M35 which I'm not thrilled about but im going all in with field camouflage, some European chicken wire ( its different than ours in the U.S.) or maybe a "so called" Normandy camo, job. Sorry about jacking up your thread. Decent job. Good color. Thanks for the video

[@stuka_bly4t102]

I’m restoring an m40, I took the previous paint completely off as it was already pretty badly restored, now I have to repaint it, I bought day 1944 paint, I tried on the shell to see if it would hold on, but it doesn’t, I can scratch it off with my nails. Do you know if I have to use any sort of primer or what I should do to make it work?

[@frankreak]

Is it ral7021 on Dunkel feldgrau?

[@kevinhugenschmitt1861]

what is the best paint? sympacolor or fosco?

[@moxx_deez_nuts]

Im going to reference this video for when I get a reproduction m42 stalhelm from amazon, trying to make a sänitater with an all white helmet with the red cross all around it

[@tigerpresentationsproducts425]

Why? For the period it was shiny and it wasn’t a double decal only m35’s were double decal

[@tk-0994]

Thanks for the video , painted a Finnish contract m40 brown to resemble Afrika korps. Turned out well , the lazy Susan was a great help indeed!

[@SteveMrW]

May I ask where you get your repro German helmets from?

[@johnzeszut3170]

To apply a grainy finish try spraying the helmet with a tack spray by 3-M and then a light dusting of sawdust etc. The paint should seal things up and if not use any sort of dull coat etc. To age the liner - and it will look like perspiration stains - apply damp coffee grounds.

[@Pepehsanchecoco8899]

ok muy chulos los cascos yo el que tengo el M42 lo tengo pintado en camuflaje

[@hillgiant18]

I know this is an old video. Its not a bad starting point. I would suggest updating the video description to reflect some of the lessons learned from the comments below. I know you couldn’t get a hold of aluminum oxide. You should explain that in the video description. People will use your methods as a starting point so you should tell them what you learned so will be informed as well. Also, your helmets look much better than what you initially had them as.

[@cloudy_fn_2641]

Can I ask you something. I would like a German helmet for the exhibition, but I don't have the opportunity to pay as much as $100-$200 for an original. Do you think it would be a good idea to remake the German firefighter helmet to look like a military one, they are the same shape

[@buzzsaw42productions63]

If you get some black shoe polish it ages them nicely