Restoration of a German M40 helmet Part 1

In this article I want to show you a German M40 helmet restored by me with a lot of help from a friend, an
experienced car restorer. I bought this helmet when I was very young for 25 guilders, ±12 Euro.

I found a lot of information on https://germanhelmetvault.com/

When I bought it there was no paint at all anymore on the helmet. The green paint you see is aplied by me shortly after it came into my possession.
The next pictures show some detail on the helmets condition before I started to work on it.

There are cracks in the helmet, its possible they are battle damage but I doubt it. I think they are caused by all the years in the ground and while digging it up.

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There are many people who's opinion is not to restore artifacts from the past but just preserve it. I have a lot of respect for that opinion. However since the helmet wasn't in its original condition anymore I thought it was a nice project. My intention was to learn as much as possible about German Helmets while restoring it.