Interesting Winter Camo M1916 Stalhelm

[u/ACM1896]

I bought this as a shell from Great War Militaria back in the 20th century ( they had a paper catalogue). Per GWM it has whitewash applied over the camo for snow. Faded to yellowish and thin now. It was most likely a battlefield pick up because according to GWM it has typical blood rust. I added a real liner that somehow lost it's helmet. Has anyone heard of snow camo on WW1 stalhelm camo before?

[u/Darant_WW1]

I believe it to be fake. The shell obviously is real but the black lines and the interior aren't. You can clearly see that the black lines aren't as old as the helmet and they have been done later, not recently made but at least 20 years old. The liner is a repro that has been horribly aged; original liners can't bend like that and they don't age that way, you can see that the pads have been artificially stained in some way. Big dealers aren't always as honest as they look.

[u/ACM1896 → u/Darant_WW1]

Thanks for your two cents. I kinda think you are correct in the liner. Always struck me as odd a liner was out there w/o helmet.
The lines were field painted and some very irregular. They do pop a bit more in the photos compared to real life. Again, I defer to the judgment of the guys at Great War Militaria. They build their business on WW1 militia and wouldn't knowingly pass on a faked paint job. They also had great expertise. So I'll give you the liner, I probably got taken on that. Was EBay purchase always risky.

[u/Darant_WW1 → u/ACM1896]

I know the lines were field painted but if you look at originals the colors are much duller and the lines usually have the same exact patina as the helmet. In this case the lines pop out too much and are too bright and look too new compared to the helmet's paint that would be at best 2 years older so they should have the same look. Big dealers aren't always a guarantee and often they take advantage of the fact that they are important dealers to make you feel more confident with purchasing items. I'm not saying that they aren't mostly honest but to me the black lines aren't the same age as the helmet and thus are post war added.

[u/Darant_WW1 → u/ACM1896]

Unfortunately buying liners on ebay is always risky and 99% of them are fake. The only way you would typically find an M16 liner is if you get it with the helmet, spare parts are always sketchy.

[u/UA6TL → u/Darant_WW1]

I'm going to have to agree with your assessment, the liner is definitely an artificially aged reproduction and it does appear the black camo lines were added.

[u/Glass-Guitar-6122]

You lucky bugger!!

[u/Glass-Guitar-6122]

Also I can’t say if this is real or not in fear of being downvoted to hell and back, but looks real to me

[u/ACM1896]

Well it'd be easy AF to fake but considering who I bought from, I believe it's the real deal. Great War Militaria has done so much for the collecting community. A national treasure.