M35 SS helmet, real or fake?

[Celtic Warrior]

ET62 Lot no 1053 hope the photos have uploaded.

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Don't waste your money on it, and if you already have - ask for a refund.

Cheers,
Steve

[Schwerpunkt]

Horrible looking fake.

[AndyM35]

Glad that you trusted your gut instinct Celtic Warrior and posted the helmet here. And now that the seller has “form” you would be best to post the other items to the appropriate forums as well. You never know, he may have something worthwhile. Hopefully this won’t put you off as we have all been there and it just takes time and patience to get your eyes in.

You might want to consider joining the forum for a small fee which will help to support it, so that it can continue to grow and share the hobby with others. And in the meantime have a look at the SS section on Schwerpunkt’s website to see some original period SS lids and of course continue to use the forum as a search tool.
SS Helmets – German Helmet Vault

Andy

[Pauls1970]

I would be so grateful for this advice if I was the prospective buyer
Paul

[Celtic Warrior]

Thank you all for the advice, it would have been a costly mistake. I thought the paint, liner and chin strap looked ok, but the SS decal had marks/lines all over it which made my gut ask why?. Can anyone tell me why it's such an obvious fake so that I can look out for it again?. Thanks again.

[BlackCat1982]

Bad example for sure. Walk away quickly,

[AndyM35]

Thank you all for the advice, it would have been a costly mistake. I thought the paint, liner and chin strap looked ok, but the SS decal had marks/lines all over it which made my gut ask why?. Can anyone tell me why it's such an obvious fake so that I can look out for it again?. Thanks again.

It’s not something that can be encapsulated in a few sentences but more something that comes with spending lots of time looking at, handling and studying originals so that you get a feel for what looks good, unusual or outright fake. Could be any number of reasons why a helmet or decal could have scratches (could be kids playing, denazification etc), so you can’t always rule something out because if that. You need to look at the entire picture. To know what decals were used, with what paint and with which manufacturer. What type of liner band it has. You need to know how 70+ year old paint looks now with age patina. But none of this comes quickly and takes lots of time and dedication, but knowing all of the above was what enabled the members here to see this one for what it is so quickly.

Suffice to say, the one you have posted above has many issues regarding being period and original i.e. bad paint, liner, bad decals etc.

Andy

[Schwerpunkt]

Start with checking the maker ET with the decal expected on ET shells.
Difference is night and day.
Knowing the decal designs and what shell they should be on is the first thing you need to learn and it holds true for all branches.