Sixth Army Group

[1stlooey]

Anybody who has viewed the pictures I have posted in the past knows that I'm a huge fan of Battle Gear Toys' products. Theirs are the only products that I will buy in bulk, regardless of price, sight unseen. They're really that good and consistent.

So I was sad to learn that they had to give up their M1 helmet project.

That said, I decided to try the DiD M1, about which much bandwidth has been spent here and elsewhere, and which looks good in other people's pics (thanks boot25!). So I picked one up. And I must say, I can't see how the shape of the shell could be any better.

But, I can't leave well enough alone. So, here are some ideas I've been working on.

First, they come with a nice, rough finish. I'm leaving most of mine with that finish, but for a bit of variety, I used acetone to strip a couple of them, then repainted them.



I bought a mixture of George Puller and Charles Winstone helmets. The chevrons on the Puller helmet can be painted over with no trouble, but the 29th ID insignia would leave a visible disc through the paint. So I dabbed them off with a paper towel and acetone. You have to be careful, as the rough paint finish is readily removed by the acetone.As per other board member's advice, I'm using Tamiya olive drab to finish them.

I don't much like the helmet netting that came with the Charles Winstone helmets. They just don't look right. But, they aren't too bad on a German helmet:



The helmet straps are the next thing. DiD glued "leather" strips with metal loops to the inside of the helmet shell to attach the straps, which of course isn't accurate. I suppose I could be über-realistic and make a swiveling bale, but that will have to wait for another day.

As it is, the strap consists of the portion designed to go under the chin, and another bit with a metal stud in it which is intended to plug into a hole drilled into the plastic helmet liner.


I'm unaware of where this second part is from. I have never seen it in pictures of M1s, and I don't have a 1:1 M1 lying around. Maybe it's one of the paratrooper adaptations?

Anyway,as you can kind of see in the picture, the two straps are just one strap folded over and sewn together.

As I mentioned in another thread, I plan to hook most of my guys' helmet straps on the back of their brain pans. But, the amount of strap provided by DiD isn't adequate to do this:


You can extend the straps like this. Push/pull the stud out:


Hold the two ends apart and cut the threads holding the loop shut:


This frees the strap:


Pull out the loose threads:


Glue the new loop shut to the desired length. You can sew them but I like glue better.



It comes out pretty nicely:

although the buckle ends up more centered on the back of the helmet than I would like.

Now for the liner. Many US Army ran the liner chinstrap over the brim of the shell. But not always. Plenty of times you see the chinstrap is under the shell. I plan to mix it up a bit.

But there are a couple of things I don't like about the DiD chinstrap. While it really doesn't bother me that it isn't the accurate type of buckle,which was a kind of locking slider , the "leather" is bulky enough that it bunches up at the buckle. Also, the doubled-up portion of the strap won't stay together when it is folded over the helmet's edge, and you can see the fabric backing too much.


For the buckle, I used a pair of pliers I bought at Michael's in the beading aisle. It has smooth, plastic jaws:


AFTER ADJUSTING THE STRAP TO THE DESIRED LENGTH, squeeze the buckle with the pliers:



Then glue the doubled-up straps together. Use a lighter to burn off any threads that unravel while you do this. The result is, while not perfect, a lot better.


It will now fit under the helmet, if that's what you want, or it will look much better over the bill.



Hope you enjoy.

Ed
Orlando, FL

[hankco1942]

you have done a very nice job. Always funny when stuff isn't quite right.

On a side note, re-enactor supply company www.atthefront.com has just started selling cans of spray paint that is matched exactly to WW2 US helmets. Pricey but they have a reputation for doing things right (not necessarily the way some folks THINK is right, just... RIGHT)

May be worth a look for anyone painting helmets. Caution, though, they think Action figures are... umm... funny...

[Sixth Vanguard]

Excellent article. I have a bunch of Puller helmets and was wondering about the accuracy and that strap with the pin myself.

[covert-]

I tend to agree with you on the chinstraps of the DiD helmets.

I bought 2 of the Ricky Foster helmets for updating some figures - DML "Danny" and DML "Capt. Miller".

The one for Danny worked out great as he is an 82nd AB figure, so the chinstrap etc look OK.

However, for the Capt. Miller fig, I've done some heavy modding.

So far, I have:

1. Cut off the small pin-thing from the chinstrap.
2. Cut off the chinstrap from the liner webbing.
3. Gently stretched the chinstrap (gradually) until it will now fit over the rear of the helmet without opening up the strap itself (tip: try doing the chinstrap up in the normal postion (ie. under the chin, but without a head in the helmet), then flip it around the back, gradually working it up from one side. This allows the strap material to stretch, and then fit into an excellent formed way on the rear of the helmet. From the pics I've seen of American GIs wearing the helmet, it's always a tight fit).
4. Removed the leather piece on the inside of the helmet and glue the bales to the edge of the helmet.
5. I used a black sharpie to colour in the underneath of the liner strap. I also made it an extremely tight fit to keep the pleather strap as taut as possible.

Some nitpicks about the helmet:

1. It weighs a lot. I don't know if all heads/bodies could keep it upright, especially if posing the figure crouching or ducking.
2. As mentioned above, the slider adjustment on the liner is off. I'd love to see this done properly and am thinking about making some sort of small housing to go over the buckle-type adjuster it has now.
3. Those pins on the helmet strap. They're not really useful on a non-para figure.
4. The excess cloth on the helmet strap. I chopped mine down a bit as it was too excessive.
5. The leather piece holding the bale to the inside of the helmet. Time will tell if this actually stays in place on the para fig or if it'll need to be moved like on my Capt. Miller.
6. The webbing on the liner is a bit questionable. I can't get the rear (nape) part of the liner to properly sit behind the figures' heads perfectly so the helmet doesn't sit exactly the way it should.

[Leatherneck]

Great monograph, 1stLooey.

[usmcchet9296]

The Did helmets are the best out there right now

[justin_g]

[temp]

Thoughts on WWII chinstraps:

"Old Army Lore" I learned from WWII NCOS was that the web chinstrap was not to be fastened under the chin because the concussion created by the helmet trapping the explosive force was often fatal. Seems we had to re-learn this lesson in Iraq (as evidenced by the re-design of the suspension system on the Fritz).

In looking at the 100 or so photos on the 3d Armd Div WWII website, it appears that a preponderence of troops wear their chinstraps buckled across the back of the helmet. In many of the photos, it appears the web chinstraps have been removed (cut off) from the bales. There is only 1 photo showing a soldier wearing the web strap dangling (the CCB commander, after enduring a 3 day shoot-em-up). The practice of wearing the web chinstrap buckled across the back of the helmet continued until the Fritz was adopted in the early 1980s.

I once read an official Army post-WWII monograph that described the helmet liner leather chinstrap as "one of the most useless pieces of equipment ever issued to US soldiers". I agree - in a lifetime spent in and around the US Army, I never saw anybody wear it under their chin; and by the mid 1950s, issue had almost ceased.

BTW - while the DID web chin strap is very nice; when I'm creating a single figure diorama, I go the extra mile and use the Battle Gear web chinstraps. They are superb - the webbing seems to have a more "in-scale" texture.

Lastly - I wanted to compliment you on a superb "how to". I always enjoy reading your inputs and I think this is the best so far. It has given me some new ideas and that's what this website is all about.

[ggj11]

[Emergency Ian]

I replace my DiD M1 helmets straps with BGT's version. I think they're much nicer.


- Ian