Refurbishment > WW1 German M16 'Square Dip' Helmet Refurbishment
WWI M16 German Helmet Square Dip Refurbishment:
This is an extremely rare German World War One Model M16 'Square Dip' helmet. This is thought to be the very first version of the WW1 German Stalhelm, replacing the pickelhaube's on the German front line.
Only approximately 30,000 are thought to have been produced. A Flaw was identified where many of the 'dips' fractured at the point of dipping into the outer skirt, so the helmet was modified to the standard version where the dip is at a flatter angle.
The standard size of the WWI 'square dip' was ET62 and ET64 and these are the types mainly found today. But size 60 and 66 are also in collections. The 66 is probably the most sought after and is very rare. The example we are refurbishing is a 'square dip' ET66 (Eisenhutten Thale) helmet shell. Our customer advised us that he would trust no other company with refurbishing this rare shell.
The pictures below show the helmet as it arrived, painted on the outside in a very matt grey colour and on the inside had been added a post war name. You can tell it is post war as the name is fully intact yet the paint underneath is worn, scraped and old. The inside of the helmet has original paint so what we wanted to do, was to match up the outside of the helmet with the wear on the inside of the helmet and of course provide a replica liner and chinstrap aged to reflect the age & wear of the helmet.
Notice that at the top right of the helmet it did have a large dent and somone had used heat and a hammer to bash it out. They have done a very good job only leaving a few visible pit holes and a slight uneven finish as evidence of the work.
Only approximately 30,000 are thought to have been produced. A Flaw was identified where many of the 'dips' fractured at the point of dipping into the outer skirt, so the helmet was modified to the standard version where the dip is at a flatter angle.
The standard size of the WWI 'square dip' was ET62 and ET64 and these are the types mainly found today. But size 60 and 66 are also in collections. The 66 is probably the most sought after and is very rare. The example we are refurbishing is a 'square dip' ET66 (Eisenhutten Thale) helmet shell. Our customer advised us that he would trust no other company with refurbishing this rare shell.
The pictures below show the helmet as it arrived, painted on the outside in a very matt grey colour and on the inside had been added a post war name. You can tell it is post war as the name is fully intact yet the paint underneath is worn, scraped and old. The inside of the helmet has original paint so what we wanted to do, was to match up the outside of the helmet with the wear on the inside of the helmet and of course provide a replica liner and chinstrap aged to reflect the age & wear of the helmet.
Notice that at the top right of the helmet it did have a large dent and somone had used heat and a hammer to bash it out. They have done a very good job only leaving a few visible pit holes and a slight uneven finish as evidence of the work.
WW1 M16 Square Dip ET66 - Post War Paint
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WWI Square Dip Helmet M16
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WWI Square Dip Helmet incorrect grey post war paint
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Inside WWI M16 Square Dip Helmet original paint
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Inside WWI M16 Square Dip Helmet original paint
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M16 Helmet Post War Name
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M16 Helmet fixed Dent with small heat holes
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M16 Helmet fixed Dent with brown overpaint
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M16 ET66 Square Dip Close up of Makers mark & size
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The square dip came originally with a unique set of 6 finger liner. But the majority of photographs show the Square Dip M16 with standard M16 liner, so this is what we decided to go with. We also chose an early war brass fittings chinstrap in brown leather.
The helmet was stripped on the outside only and you can see where the helmet was heat treated and the large dent was hammered out, leaving a few indents in the steel. Unfortunately there was no interesting paint or markings underneath the post war grey paint, we checked this carefully. The previous owner had stripped it extensively.
The helmet was stripped on the outside only and you can see where the helmet was heat treated and the large dent was hammered out, leaving a few indents in the steel. Unfortunately there was no interesting paint or markings underneath the post war grey paint, we checked this carefully. The previous owner had stripped it extensively.
M16 Liner and Chinstrap
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M16 Stripped of outer shell paint
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M16 Showing outer shell dent repair
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M16 Post War Name Removed
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M16 Square Dip inside Repair after removing paint to 'hide' the repair.
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Square Dip front view of retained original paintwork
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The helmet is fully completed. Liner & chinstrap fully aged as is the shell. Points to note, look at the natural cracking of the leather on the liner - extremely hard to do. The shell has a owners name and unit number but this time blended into the wear of the inner shell. The dent on the shell has now been fully blended into the helmet and can't be see by the eye, only if you rub your hand over it can you feel a slightly flatter area. On the inside the rusty areas are all integrated across the whole inner shell so no dent can be seen.
WW1 Brass chinstrap
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Cracking roots pattern in liner
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M16 square dip completed
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Aged and polished to look 'looked after'
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Chinstrap notice cracking lines
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Notice the rust coming through under the paint
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The dent is un-detectable
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M16 Liner fungus stains and ageing
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Owners Name & Unit
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Before Restoration
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After Restoration
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