pictured is my late Uncles (Edward Lee Millhoff of Sidney Ohio) helmet he wore while fighting in Europe during WW1. i recently acquired it along with two of his guns that supposedly he was issued some years after the War for taking care of "varmints" that were a problem where he was stationed. the guns i cleaned the best i could and now i need to figure out how to deal with this rusty helmet. the guns (Winchester 9mm shotgun and .22 rifle) were stored at several locations but the helmet was kept in a musty basement giving it the rust it has now. its not all the way through rust, just on the surface, and was hoping for some input on what i should do with it. was thinking about having it sandblasted and re-painting it the original color if i could find the color. i beleive the outside of the helmet was painted over at one time but am not sure. about a month ago i give it a good coating of Kroil and havent done anything else to it. http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n277/dinkbuster1/100_3189.jpg http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n277/dinkbuster1/100_3198.jpg http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n277/dinkbuster1/100_3202.jpg
i have th ww1 helmet my grandpa wore,it still has the leather band and chin strap its got a small dent in it that was cause by an exploded mortor shell that blew out his eardrums.he couldnt hear yu but he could understand what yu were sayin tho. dont do anything to it man thats patina on there thats takin 90 years to look that good . just hang it on th wall :big_smile::cool2:
Nice acquisitions Mike. The way I remove rust is coca cola. But I don't know if that is something that you would want to use on that. But I do no that it does remove rust. It's cheap and it works. Call an expert and see what they say.
Mike, I'd follow Bill's advice. Just leave all that "patina" and nostalgia, character or anything else you want to call it. But I sure wouldn't (rehab), it won't be the same, leave it AS IS! Jim
is that winchester .22 a 1902 model? I have one like it. Last check was worth about 65 bucks. I bought it for 7.50 in late 60's. The guy I got it from got it for 5 bucks. I broke my stock, had a nice piece of walnut I was making a new one out of, and it got stolen in high school shop class. I then made one out of a piece of 2x4. didn't shoot it much, but has nice sights. doesn't extract too well, but I ordered a new stock from boyd's gunstocks. My brother has my grandpa's helmet, and gas mask and some other stuff. I think the original color was grey. There are several products you can use to convert the rust, but not sure you want to do it. What ever you decide, you got a piece of history there, and just think if it could tell stories about where its been.
the rifle is a Model 68 Short, long rifle if thats any help. "Uncle Red" (had red hair at one time) had a gas mask as well but it dissapeared unfortunately. from what i was told he was gassed several times causing his hair to fall out.
If that is patina then yes, leave it alone. But if it's rust then you need to get it off there. It will continue to eat away at the metal and the whole thing will eventually be brittle and you won't have anything left. GET RID OF THE RUST!
ill bet that round red emblem means he was a medic. that along with a band wore around the arm.:wink: spray it with wd thatll neutralize the rust:big_smile: :cool2:
I would check with the local VFW or history museum they should have something like that available to compare.
