I recently picked this helmet up. It looks good to me but I've never seen a known original Reichsbahn helmet in hand. I've only seen the decals pictured in "German Helmets 1939-1945" by Goodapple, Maertz and Weinand. What do you guys think of the decals? I've been told they do have repro decals out. How do they compare to originals?

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i like the decals,but no expert,,,robert

thanks Robert. I did a search on WAF and found a couple of threads on Reichsbahn helmets. I'm not so sure on the decals now. The party shield does show a jagged edge between the colors. One person posted this was a bad sign.

I keep coming back to it and the decal just does not conform to the wear of the rest of the helmet looks to good big question mark

PAUL

The party shield doesn't show the layering that I would expect to see. I know that they are a different design to those used on SS & Polizei but I suspect that they were made the same....

Cheers
Don

Both decals are bad IMHO. Here is an original Bahnschutzpolizei for comparison.

Cheers,

YOU APPEAR TO HAVE A REWORKED FIREMQN'S HELMET. THE REICHSBAHN DECAL IS DEFINITLEY A STINKER. I OWNED THE TRANSITION REICHSBAHN HELMET SHOWN IN ALL OF THE REFERENCE BOOKS FOR OVER TEN YEARS BACK IN THE 60'S. THIS DECAL IS NOT EVEN CLOSE. FURTHER, THE HELMET BODY WAS BLUE, NOT BLACK. THE DECAL SHOWN BY DARYLL IS A GOOD ONE. MAYBE IT IS FROM MY OLD HELMET!

It's great to see Darryl back again.....

Gentlemen, thanks for all your help. I can see the difference between the decal on my helmet and the one Darryl has posted. I would guess only one or at most two makers of these decals. I would be more comfortable with the one shown. I'm sure I can exchange it for other item from the dealer.
Bob, is your helmet a combat or civil style? Single or double decal?

quote:

Originally posted by Raymond:

Bob, is your helmet a combat or civil style? Single or double decal?

THE HELMET I ONCE OWNED IS ILLUSTRATED IN AT LEAST THREE REFERENCE BOOKS THAT I KNOW OF. IT WAS FIRST SHOWN A COLLECTORS GUIDE WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED BY BOB GRAMBERG IN 1961. I BOUGHT THIS HELMET FROM HIM THE SAME YEAR FOR $12.00. IT NEXT WAS IN STAN BOZICH'S BOOK ON GERMAN HEADGEAR, WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN 1968. IT IS ALSO ON PAGE 329 OF LUDWIG BAER'S BOOK. THE HELMET WAS A TRANSITIONAL COMBAT HELMET. I AM SURE THAT THE DECAL THAT DARRYL SHOWED IS THE ONE ATTACHED TO MY OLD HELMET.

Thanks Bob. Of the three books,I only have Ludwig Baer's book. The decal posted by Darryl has different wear patterns than the one on your helmet, but both have that 3D and metallic look. The one on my helmet looks flat. The silver borber on mine is thinner and closer to the edge.

Bob,

The decal I posted is on an dark blue painted M18 from a friend's collection. I believe the one you once owned now belongs to Al Barrows.

My friend actually owns three RBP helmets; two M18 styles...one with RB decal and elongated party shield and the other with RB shield and a tri-colour shield. The third one is a civic style with blue-grey paint with RB shield and a standard Pocher-style party shield. All very cool helmets.

Cheers,

Darryl, would it be possible to get photos of your friends helmets? I'd love to see them.

Raymond,

I will ask and see if he is willing to share some images here.

DARRYL-
THE HELMET WITH THE ELONGATED PARTY SHIELD IS THE ONE I USED TO OWN.
BOB

Yes, Raymond, the Railway Decal on your helmet is bad. This is easily seen by the width of the lined border and the color of the decal itself.
JMO,
Ron Weinand