Refurbishment > Pickelhaubes > M1895 to WW1 Enlisted Mans Pickelhaube Refurbishment
WW1 German Model 1895 to WW1 Pickelhaube Helmet - Refurbishment:
We bought this helmet at under £50, but it was in very bad condition. Notice it is just the helmet and liner, there were no metal parts included, other than the wappen attachment holes grommets! We wanted to demonstrate how we can refurbish 100+ year old helmet. We plan to restore this one, not just conserve. So in other words we want to restore it back to as close to its original form as possible, in a tasteful and sympathetic manner, rather than just conserve it, which means leather fixing and hole filling etc.
The first job was to fix all the leather liner, as much of it was paper thin and very fragile in places. If we had re-shaped the liner shell first then this would have damaged more of the liner, so liner needed to be fixed first! There were also pieces missing and some hanging on by threads! We fixed the most vulnerable parts first by using leather glue. Then we used 1mm brown leather and provided a base for fixing all the holes. We then went round it supporting each of the liner 'fingers' and then re-punching the holes.
Finally we coated the whole top side of the liner with leather binder which tightens up the leather and makes it a little bit stronger for subsequent work. The next step will be to re-shape the shell before going back to the liner!
We will be adding to this page over time as we source parts, so if you want to be kept updated of progress please join our mailing list!
To be continued....
WW1 German Model 1895 to WW1 Pickelhaube Helmet - Refurbishment
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