The wire camouflage market

Wire camouflage helmets always fetched top dollar for as long as I collect but where 10 years ago a lot trickled over from old collections with solid woodwork provenance the majority of wire helmets beings sold today lack this provenance. Authentic wire camo helmets are rare and hard to authenticate. While camo paint can give us more clues , a piece of wire is just that.

There is good money in wire camouflage helmets and that puts them in the same place like Red cross , SS helmets and multi color camouflage helmets. Right in the crosshairs of frauds.

Getting a consensus

A lot of wire helmets are posted on forums for review. Not even 10% get all round positive feedback. Most get mixed feedback.

Why do collectors not see eye to eye on these helmets ? There is no guidebook what to look for so collectors will have different views on what they like to see.

The fakes don’t help

If collectors collaborate with books on camouflage helmets like the garbage which was published a few years it’s no surprise that fakers keep on having a job.

This terribly bad book is a good example where mixing good with bad stuff can make bad stuff good. Confusing isn’t it ?

While today some of these fake wire camo’s are easily dismissed because of an incorrect decal this was not so 20 years or more ago. It is interesting to look at the paint , wire and aging techniques.

You can imagine now the story on the decals is out that fakers have moved on…

Glass half full or half empty ?

Wire helmet collecting has never been easy but with the internet and today’s prices it’s become more difficult finding that unique piece for your collection. Despite the fact many wire helmets are being offered for sale. This should be seen as warning that the market is following demand. Demand of rare helmets can be met in 2 ways.

• Collectors see opportunities to cash in and sell a couple from their collections.
• Fakers see opportunities in the rise in demand and drop a few ‘new’ ones in the market

Are you paranoid ?

Let’s not be gullible and think that the SS Champagne rune debacle from 2 years back was the only crooked thing that’s been constructed to help you depart with your hard earned cash. Similar fraudulent constructions have been discovered in other areas of Third Reich collecting. Visors , badges , SS honor rings just to name a few.

Fake camo’s have been doctored up for decades , even in the eighties and probably earlier. There genuinely are people that take pride in it.

This fake wire cage is being sold for 6 bucks and is available in several sizes  , it can be buried and will show age after a few weeks.

Even aged it will not fool most collectors but this shows there is a market for it.

Below are some examples , if you want to have fun look at the photos and see what you think. The caption will tell you.

 

 

 

I deliberately did not add a 100% authentic wire to the mix above. You can view a few examples on the Camo page of my website.

Where is that Unicorn ?

The point of this article is simple , genuine wire camo’s are extremely rare. They are not available in quantity but they are faked in quantity on many levels. There are quite a few chicken wire helmets available on the market as I write this. Do your homework and do not spend your cash on a fata morgana.

To be continued I’m sure 🙂

Happy hunting

Frank

 

The title of this blog article is a question that many collectors pose on the online forums. The answer to that question is important because if a helmet is a Kriegsmarine helmet it has a higher value. The fact that decals can tone very heavily makes it sometimes almost impossible to see if a decal is silver or gold. Still you do not want to buy a helmet at Kriegsmarine price if it turns out it is not a Kriegsmarine helmet.

I already have a page on GHV that talks about the heavy toning on Heer decals here.

This week-end I had a chance to plug in the USB Microscope again to answer for myself if the helmet I found was a Heer or Kriegsmarine.

WOODWORK FIND : KM or Heer ?

This helmet just surfaced out of the woodwork in Belgium.

The helmet came out of basement that the grandchildren were cleaning out after their grandfather passed away. The grandfather told them he got the helmet from a German soldier. He was still a kid during the war. That is all the story there is to it.

The helmet is an M40 , ET size 66 with a 1940 dated liner band. Lot number is only partially visible 112x.

The camo scheme is interesting as it looks to have been dabbed in mustard green/yellow paint which was spread unevenly across the helmet.

It is in fact very similar to another helmet I have.

Some USB close-ups of the paint.

STEP 1 : USB microscope at 25x zoom

Upon first inspection at home I got excited. The decal is nice and evenly golden. I did not spot an area that looked less golden. And the helmet is an ET which is another box ticked.

I set up my USB microscope and scanned the decal. It blew me away at 25x zoom. Evenly proportioned gold color.

STEP 2 : Looking for the ridge

ET Kriegsmarine decals are know to have a pronounced outline all around the decal. Collectors call this ‘The ridge’. It is part of the KM decal printing process.

You can spot the ridge with the naked eye but in case of a more worn decal or in this case partially overpainted one a black light can help.

Unfortunately I could not see the ridge with the black light.

STEP 3 : USB Microscope at 200x zoom

Comparing these close-ups to those of an original KM decal answered my question. As you can compare from yourself below the difference is like night and day.

What do we see in the original close-ups ?

• Surprisingly at 200 zoom a KM decal’s pulver is made up for 98% out of gold foil but you still see some silver and darker elements in there.
• The 25 zoom photo shows the same but less pronounced.

A Kriegsmarine decal (left at 25x , right at 200x)

Now the other decal :

1. It does not show a pulver made up of 2 different components. Even at 200x zoom it is still even in color.
2. In the right photo you can spot larger areas of silver around the damaged areas.
3. But also significant is that gold color at 200x zoom looks like a brown wash that is very uneven. You can see small and large clouds. (The results correspond to a similar analysis a few years back)

The decal on the woodwork helmet at 200x zoom.

CONCLUSION

Sometimes we need to go a little deeper to find the truth , this could have been classified as a KM camo helmet and maybe nobody would lose sleep over it. But if we stop analyzing and think that details do not matter we lose control over our hobby and I know people that love to pull away the power of knowledge from collectors as that would give them back the power to sell you utter crap.

Keep on top of your game ! Happy hunting.

Frank

 

Just recently a complete world class collection was stolen in Europe / Belgium most certainly by persons familiar with our hobby.  The family was away for the week-end and no-one was home.

You can read an article in French here

When you hear about something like that you immediately re-assess your own situation and while collections vary greatly in size and value the sentimental value is huge , it is something your worked hard for to attain. Something you are proud off. Losing it means losing part of your life.

1) Raising the threshold

To stop someone to walk into your house we lock our doors. That is a simple barrier. How do you stop someone that breaks down your door ?

Well he might think twice if you have an alarm installation , the siren is visible from the outside this creates an additional problem for any potential thief.

Worst case he proceeds and grabs the most valuable things in a few minutes.

Alarm installations these days range from your basic motion sensor detectors to video recording when motion is detected with or without your alarm being connected to a control room that sends someone to investigate.

A basic alarm system is the minimum I would recommend for ‘defending’ your collection. But keep in mind that the basic system would not have stopped the burglary I started my blog with.

2) Gadgets

While not as efficient as a full fledged alarm system IP camera’s are cheap and easy to install around the house and with you being in full control.

These are camera’s that connect with your home network and with an App you can see through these camera’s on your smart phone or Ipad wherever you are. Some even have simple motion detectors and record whenever they detect motion. You then get a message on your smart phone and can playback the recording.

You can connect several camera’s to your network and control them all via an App.

2 things are key when you’d consider buying a couple. Go for the High Definition ones and make sure when you install them that you change the factory installed password. If you do not change the password hackers can easily see in your house.

Also put stickers on windows and doors that say you have camera surveillance.

3) Armoured door

The majority of burglars will already be looking for easier pickings after points 1 and 2 but those that have come especially for you may not be deterred that easily.

Another major delaying factor would be putting an armoured door in as access to your collection room. Armoured doors these days are not the steel ugly bulky things you may think they are. You can get them in any color.

An armoured door will be a tough nut to crack for any thief.

4) The weakest link : Windows

Windows are the weakest part in your home defense but also here you can make some improvements.

Very effective is changing your window handles to ones that can be locked. Burglars are known to drill a hole in the plastic of your window and unlock the window by pulling the handle with a string through the hole. If you have a handle that is locked you can prevent this.

In combination with a handle lock you can also have a bar on the window frame that locks at the top and bottom so that it takes quite a lot more effort to force the window.

There are probably even more ways to make your house burglar proof but these are in my opinion useful suggestions for all budgets. Don’t wait till they get inside your house to start thinking about protecting it.

Take care and good hunting,

Frank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gustav is a bit of a loner , you do not see him around that much and he carries quite a reputation.

His last name is Peiniger and he belongs in the group of WW2 period produced reissue decals. This means they were not applied at factory level.  The story on the decal as I learned it many years ago is as follows :

1. Wartime produced
2. You can find these in large quantities unapplied
3. Because of the point above often post war applied

The last two of those points should be set straight in my opinion.

POINT 1 : WARTIME PRODUCED

This is not a discussion point amongst collectors , the decal is clearly wartime produced. Right pulver and look and even the USB close-ups leave no doubt.

Gustav Peiniger close-ups left at 25x zoom , the right one at 200 zoom

Huber Jordan decal close-ups left at 25x zoom , the right one at 200 zoom

POINT 2 : PEINIGER DECALS AVAILABLE IN LARGE QUANTITIES UNAPPLIED

Honestly , if I look at the unapplied decals for sale in the last 10 years the Huber Jordan decal is by far the most available one.

The Ed Strache decal follows closely behind the Huber Jordan but the Gustav Peiniger decal I have rarely seen for sale. * Note that a Gustav Peiniger tricolor exists but I have never seen a combo of these decals *

So for me this point is not one I would take into consideration anymore as the Huber Jordan is by far the most available decal.

Example of a Huber Jordan decal

POINT 3a WAR TIME APPLICATION

Let’s start with defining where we would expect to see a wartime applied GP decal. It follows the same ground rules as any of the other known reissue decals.

The big majority of such decals are found on reissued M16/M18 helmets and M35’s. You would expect that the components only go up to 1943 not later. These helmets would all be single decal helmets with feldgrau matte paint which can be textured in various degrees.

Here are 2 examples of what I consider period applied GP decals. It maybe coincidental but notice the paint drip on the ET under the decal and under the river of the Quist.

Example one is an M35 ET helmet , you can find it in more detail on my website

The other one I found on the internet and is a M35 Quist helmet. (if the owner of this helmet reads this blog I am happy to add a credit here).

POINT 3b POST WAR APPLICATION

Below is an example of a post war applied GP decal. If we apply the rules laid down above , this helmet is an M42 so that should throw up a huge red flag.

What else can we learn from this example ? The lot number tells us this one came out of the factory without a decal. Also if you look at the left side of the decal there is a triangular damaged area. This is damaged caused by applying the decal to the helmet , while period application flaws in itself are common. 70 years old decals applied in the present are fragile and have a tendency to break. It takes some experience to recognize the signs.

To sum up , things to consider when you spot a helmet with this decal :

• Shell type (if M42 it will in all probability has a post war applied example)
• Has the helmet been repainted and re-decaled , if no leave it.
• Does the decal look better than the general condition of the shell ? This could be cause for concern.

TO CONCLUDE

All things taken into account this is not a decal to be scared of and the reputation it has received online is inflated and I know how it goes , it is a smart thing to do to pick up on guidelines from experienced collectors that help you and repeat them so other more novice collectors like you can pick up on it. It’s what I did and was part of.

But sometimes we need to take a step back and review and challenge what’s been taken for granted.

I have seen a great many helmets with this decal that I consider war time applied and yes there are quite a lot out there post war applied , especially the M42 helmet has been targeted for such practices , not just for the Gustav Peiniger decals but for all decals.

So let’s give Gustav a break when we see him again , he may be on your next helmet !

That’s all for now folks.

Have a nice Sunday.

Frank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just wanted to warn you about these new EURO fake chinstraps. These are on the market now since 2 years and I see these are now moving beyond the dealer site I initially spotted these on. I have these already on my fakes chinstraps page but spotted some for sale (and sold) today on another dealer site.

They are being sold for 125 euros.

Don’t get caught with one of these as they are a waste of money. If you have one make sure to send it back to the dealer.

The buckles are always unpainted steel ones , sometimes reflective and sometimes they have a more blued look. The long part can sometimes even be married to an original buckle. 

Take note of the deep stamp and the font , the buckle holes and the lower quality iron parts and stitching.

These are being mass produced and I even suspect they change the maker and RB nrs with each batch they produce.

I haven’t seen them in US dealer inventory so this seems to be a EURO only problem.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

 

Dear followers ,

In this article I will show you some high magnification photos of fake Luftwaffe decals compared to original ones.

The Luftwaffe fakes I have come across these last 20 years are of poor quality and a trained eye can spot these fakes easily without a loupe. But not everyone is a 100% die hard helmet collector. I see helmets with these fake decals still being sold today.

Authentication becomes more tricky if fake decals are covered with ‘camo paint’ , especially if the tell tale features are covered up and the fake camouflage is expertly recreated. Here the USB microscope can be a powerful tool.

Below example with 2 fake decals sold for 1800$ on an auction site.

SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISONS

On the left an unapplied 5$ droop tail fake and on the right an original droop tail eagle on an ET M35.

You can immediately see the digital sawtooth print in the unapplied example. Lack of details in graphics and also the white shows an even plastic white in the fake and a more milky creamy and thicker white on the original. The original is more layered as the black is printed on top of the white.

Next up is the other style Luftwaffe eagle , an applied one this time.

Top row is the original , bottom row the fake.

This one also shows the digital print which suffices to categorize it as a fake. You will notice the white has more depth and compares better to the original however design wise it is still a very flawed example.

DECALS UNDER CAMOUFLAGE PAINT

The helmet below fooled many knowledgeable collectors (and dealers) when it surfaced in 2005. It has 2 fake decals and a very convincing camo paint applied.

In this particular case you can just see enough of the decal to declare it as a fake , no tools needed. For further reading on this particular helmet visit German Helmet Walhalla : Here

Here are 2 original WW2 camouflaged Luftwaffe helmets where only a tiny spot of decal is visible. With the USB microscope you even with the tiniest spot of the eagle visible dive in and authenticate it.

Example 1 of an original Luftwaffe camo with decal hidden under the paint

Example 2 of an original Luftwaffe camo with decal hidden under the paint

That is all for now , keep your eyes open and make sure you are one step ahead of the frauds in our hobby.

Until next time.

Frank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone ,

Today I want to touch upon a subject that is as old as the hobby of helmet collecting. Care and preservation.

It is a subject that comes to the top often on the forums we visit.

The most common questions are how to deal with oxidation and how to deal with dry leather. In essence the answer to both questions is pretty simple but only if we are talking about helmets which I call above ground finds as opposed to dug up or ground finds. Ground finds will not be covered on this page as I lack the expertise in that area.

The history of preserving helmets

Before I continue let me first sketch the situation about 40-50 years ago , the first collectors already dealt with this topic. The golden advice was then that to preserve a helmet you needed to wax the steel or oil it.  The leather was often treated with a plethora of leather caring products.

Today these helmets stick out like sore thumbs , the exteriors are shiny looking the leathers look black , stiff or greasy and dark.

That’s right 40 years later a lot of these well intentioned preservation jobs actually made a lot of outstanding WW2 relics a whole lot less interesting to 21st century collectors.

Preservation in the 21st century

All the helmets on this site are what I call ‘above ground finds’. Helmets found in houses , attics , cellars , in veteran duffle bags , you name it.

Their condition is variable , from excellent condition to battle look (which often means lots of paint loss , oxidation and dirt).

Have a look at the two helmets below.

Top : an excellent beaded Luftschutz , possibly unworn with supple leather and great paint.

Bottom : A battle worn look camo with lots of paint loss on top and inside an dry stiff leather. Dirt between the liner band.

For sure just from looking at the first helmet we can just put that one back on the shelf. But how about the second one ? Does it look like it needs preservation ? Do we need to medivac it and stabilize it before we can put it on the shelf ?

As I said in the beginning the answer is easy , it’s NO.

NO treatment whatsoever is advised for “above ground” found helmets.

Here’s why :

1. Helmets as described above do not have active oxidation. That means even though it has oxidized it will not deteriorate in a normal environment like your hobby room.
2. The leather follows the same logic. A good environment stalls the deteriorating process. (Many WW1 helmets around with decent original 100 year old leather)

And here’s again why not :

1. Waxed , oiled helmets did not fare better than any kept in original state. And on top of that they lost value.
2. Many leathers treated in the seventies and sixties actually do look worse (and smell badly).

That’s it for now.

Enjoy the rest of your week-end and if you didn’t check in recently , lots of new stuff is up on the website.

Cheers,

Frank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear readers,

In my travels through the murky depths of the online world I picked up information that I like to share with you.

While I pay less notice to ground finds myself I still found it an interesting topic nonetheless.

The paintwork shown below is all ‘newly’ painted in ground dug helmets. In some names mistakes were made like the dotted e which does not exist in the German language.

You see these are all very extensive additions , name with detailed unit and so forth. Things we rarely see in ‘above’ ground finds.

The source of these ‘upgraded’ helmets is believed to be in Russia. The personalization adds a lot of character to a rust pitted battlefield relic and that’s what collectors look for. Do not be fooled.

That’s all for now.

Frank

Source : warrelics forum

Dear readers ,

A little newsflash of what is going on behind the scenes of the German Helmet Vault.

I am starting to catalogue different decals using my ADM device , ADM stands for Advanced digital magnification. It is a USB microscope that allows you to zoom in at 25 or 200 zoom. The result can then be viewed on your PC monitor and even photographed. I started using it 7 years ago and it is slowly becoming the number 1 tool for helmet collectors. Modern copy decals literally fall apart when magnified.

2 years ago I also invested in a portable version that I could take with me to military fairs.

I will be adding my photos with some explanation in separate pages on the site in the relevant categories.

Here’s a sneak peek of an ET Heer decal. On the left an ET M35 and on the right an SE M35 at 25 zoom.

The chest at 200 zoom

Since the last blog message there have been many updates , updates are now always mentioned on the main page so make sure to check in regularly.

Have fun collecting,

Frank

 

A few weeks ago I finally got the chance to view a round bottom DRK decal. I had posted a topic on German Helmet Walhalla in 2012 on these decals , trying to get a discussion going on their possible originality. The consensus reached in that topic was to keep them in the fake category.

I was surprised when I saw the round bottom DRK decal featured in the book “The helmet decals of the Third Reich” as one of 2 authentic DRK designs. I was determined if somehow a helmet with such a decal would cross my path I needed to examine it with the USB microscope and see what that would tell me.

A few weeks ago I was able to look at a helmet , a blueish M34 , with the decal in question. I only had my portable USB microscope with me , while it displays nice and sharp on screen the photos I took are of sub standard quality.

USB examination results

I saw pretty quickly that the decal ticked all the boxes that I like to see when looking at an original decal at high magnification. For those not familiar with the USB microscope  it can zoom in at 2 settings. 25x or 200x. So what did it show me ?

• Correct colors (the white looks like a solid milky white substance)
• Correct depth and texture (you can see the layers overlapping one another , the black and red printed on the white)
• Straight lines at 200 magnification become wavy lines , corners are very rounded not nice and sharp.
• Damaged area shows correct thickness of the decal

Overall I was surprised at how well this decal matched with an original.

USB close-ups at 25x and 200 zoom.

Taking the evidence to court

These findings needed to be discussed now amongst collectors. There is a reason that this decal has been called out as a fake for 72 years.  Let’s consider this.

1.  Without looking at the close-ups that aspect alone is worth looking at. The accepted pointy DRK decal is only found on M34 civic style shells , the majority of grey color. The really early ones on green M34 shells. The round bottom decal however is also found on gladiator shells and beaded combat shells. Most in Luftschutz color. I saw only one on a grey shell as you would expect. This in itself is difficult to explain.
2. Lack of photographic evidence. No period pictures so far have been discovered with these decals.
3. A decal created before the digital age but after WW2 would / could have the exact same traits as a wartime produced decal under high magnification.
4. Collectors that have specialized in these helmets remember the round bottom decal appearing in the seventies and on all kind of shells. This checks out with point 1 , 2 and 3.

Verdict

While the decal itself seems construction wise to come very close to an originally produced Third Reich era decal there are too many what if’s surrounding its application. The fact that collectors that were collecting long before me already had put this decal in the fakes section says more than some USB close-ups. We have to accept that we always have to work with tools and it’s our logic and common sense that needs to tell us what the tool is showing. For now this decal will remain where it is , in the fakes section.