Description
Product Description: This SS Camouflage Helmet is an outstanding and absolutely top shelf piece, that could be a highlight of an advanced collection. This incredible original helmet was only recently purchased “out of the woodwork” by a picker in the North East United States. It’s a fresh piece, that has never been in a collection before. The exterior of the prewar manufactured M35 shell features a very nice red and green camo paint scheme that has been applied over the typical, factory applied, smooth apple green prewar paint. The wartime brush applied camo pattern shows great colors and contrast. The SS runic decal was partially painted over but remains clearly evident. The decal appears to be an ET style. The surface of the exterior shows a nice uncleaned patina with scattered marks from honest wear and use. Inside, this extremely desirable SS Camouflage Helmet retains the original reinforced aluminum liner system with original chinstrap. The liner leather is complete and sound with only minimal age toning. The factory type draw string appears to have been field replaced with some string. The chinstrap has a steel buckle and has been treated lightly to prevent cracking, as it was extremely hard when it arrived- typically I never touch anything, but in all my years I have never purchased an SS camo that came right from the woodwork. The inside of the skirt is maker marked ET, and size 64, with the lot number “4380.” This is, without any exaggeration, a fantastic and extremely rare SS camo helmet. The condition rates as excellent plus plus.
Historical Description: The helmets used by WWII German soldiers were issued with a variety of solid paint colors applied at the factory. Different units deployed to combat zones had different methods to break up the iconic German helmet silhouette, for camouflage purposes. Some units issued fabric covers or camouflage nets. In other units, helmets were painted with camouflage colors. Among the most widely utilized camouflage paint finishes were solid tan for desert environments, solid white for winter use, and the tri-color camouflage scheme known to collectors as “Normandy” pattern camouflage. This camouflage style was certainly used in Normandy, famously by Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, and also by many other units. But it was also used by various units in all the occupied countries along the German-fortified “Atlantic Wall.” The Normandy camouflage scheme is characterized by the use of red, green, and tan/brown/yellow paint. In some cases, the entire helmet would be over sprayed with the tan base color, and then areas would be further over sprayed with the red and green. Other helmet painters chose to simply spray areas with the various colors. These paints were, generally speaking, the same pigments supplied to units for the purposes of camouflaging vehicles. The paint was usually applied in unit workshops, using industrial type spray guns, rather than by the soldiers themselves. Every painter had his own style, and there were probably infinite variations in the way the helmets were camouflaged. Normandy camouflaged helmets were regarded by enemy GI soldiers as attractive souvenirs, and they remain very desirable collectibles today.
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