What with all the excitement of the new FJ helmets available ive just been looking through a FJ book and was amazed at what appears to be the various different shapes in shells so begs the question of who can claim at least that their shells are THE BEST-what were they judged/copied from.

I am holding my hands up now in that i have never handled or even seen an original shell in my life but am just curious as to how someone can claim that XXXX brand is the best and XXXX is rubbish etc?

In the 1st pic the helmets look shallow-sort of like the HK/Chinese repros-not much of a turn up at the brow.

2nd pic helmets look deeper and in the 3rd pic the helmet appears to have a more distinct flare to the rim??

telemark,

Your observations are valid...There are different shapes regarding original helmets mainly with the tapered front side to brim area. Also to the front brim many originals have a distinct "dip" in them. Some dip more than others and some appear to be straight accross. The very late ckl's sometimes have an outward flange completely around the shell (rare).
Like in all manufacturing that require dies...Dies wear out and break which require others to be made. This would lead to the minor differences observed between originals. The rolled rim process was finished "by hand", so this too would cause variations in their shape.
What does not vary is the quality of the rolled rim, steel thickness and weight. Most of the reproductions use an 18 gauge steel which is thinner than the originals and display horrible rolled rims.

Lastly...What sets apart a good reproduction from a bad one is the liner and straps. This is where the Chinese and Indian examples fail.

Mike

Thanks for the info Mike-interesting.

Yep i had gathered myself from looking at various repros that the liners and straps can vary from the God awfull to passable but again i stress about never seeing an original to compare.

I was lucky enough a few years ago to buy a G Max helmet which i believe at the time for both the shell and components were regarded as the best available.

I might be stating the obvious but the second and third pics above are of reenactors? Can't tell from your first post whether you are positing these as example of actual wartime variations or not?

Middle pic is Tom G on here (in the specs) and bottom pic is Sean S. from KP1's FJ group.

_________________
David

Stimme aus dem sumpf...

STURMPANZER ABTEILUNG

lol dave,

thanks for the compliment they are original pics. The middle one is a famouse picture in normandy ( shows them using captured weapons) and the bottom pic is of a propaganda crew as the guy behind the front guy with the beretta is holding a foook of camera

Tom

Pics are ALL originals.

That guy is a dead spit for you Tom!

So reincarnation does exist...

_________________
David

Stimme aus dem sumpf...

STURMPANZER ABTEILUNG

If I had not seen the the photo before I would of said the same

_________________