a couple of weeks ago i visited a local army salvage/surplus store where they had some of the old white civil defence helmets. they look a lot like the M-17 pattern "doughboy" from WWI but with a much deeper bowl. i thought that it "could" have some potential for something, so i went ahead a bought one.

i ended up making some kind of semblance of a kettle helm. now before you all roll back your eyes and think of some BB-Q grilled SCA helmet; let me get some pics posted (i'm waiting for Jenn to get back to me on how i can post them.)

untill then, if i may, i'll detail what i did to the helmet...

first i removed the original six rivets holding the cloth suspension liner and then removed the white paint with a commercial paint stripper. the bowl section of the helmet was a good 6" to 8" deep so i didn't modify the shape of it. the rim, which is about 2.5" wide, was deflected further down from its original 90 degree angle from the base of the bowl. it now had a "closer" resemblance to the shape of some of the kettle helms from the Beauchamp Pagent. i drilled out the original rivets holes to accomodated the 1/4" shaft of the brass rivets that i used; plus i drilled out an additional 8 more so that i now had 14 rivets spaced out about 1.5" all around. ther was a stamping from the manufacture that i had grind off. i then "blackened" the interior of the helm and started to work on the liner.

the liner i based off of the liner in Bob's armet from the pictures i took a while ago. it has a linen shell with another linen under layer. i then used scraps of wool to further cushion the liner. i machined stiched it inside out and then finished it with a whip stitch all around; with several tack downs through its face to secure the inside layers. i deviated from Bob's by making it adjustable both in the front and in the back for a better fit. the liner was then stitched to a leather band that had been riveted to the helmet. i also sticted the straps to the same band and made sure that a rivet passed through it aswell to disperse the tension unto the helmet.

the buckle was fashioned out of a cast bronze D-ring and a iron tongue. i secured the buckle to the strap with a small brass plate and nail. it was in the same fashion as the buckle on the bottom sallet on page 45 from The Medieval Soldier by Embleton and Howe.

last thing i added was a small bronze finial to the top. it is actually small knob from the hardware store.

the overall effect is similar to the bottom right helmet on page 43 from the above book. the rivets are brass and all other hardware is either brass or bronze.

so it was at least a fun weekend project. i'll let you all coment on it's "appropriateness" when the pics go up. please be kind since it was my first attempt at anything like this (i still prefer to sew or work with leather.) plus this project was also my way of decompressing from a grueling chem exam from friday morning.

have fun,

daniel

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Db

We will be kind, rest assured. I'll let Jenn handle the picture posting bit.

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Reworked CD helms have been popular as ersatz kettle hats for quite some time. It all depends on the execution.

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helmit pics

well it worked on my computer, however i have had trouble with tripod before. let me know if it worked since it was just scraped together onto the web.

have fun,

daniel

[ 07-11-2001: Message edited by: LHF ]

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Db

What I think is really interesting though is how some things have NOT changed. The helmet liner design which allows for some fitting adjustment is the same design still used in good riding hard hats. Funny how sometimes you just can't build a better mousetrap.

Brenna

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You've made a sow's ear into something pretty, if not a silk purse. It looks very nice, but your big brothers. Very nice job on the suspension liner, and the decorative details.

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just got in from work and was reading your comments; thanks for the kind words. i'm really pleased that it you all like the mods, and also a bit excited.

Brenna, you might find it interesting that when i showed my helmet to a freind that sometimes does WWI reenactments, he said that it was the same liner design used in the german helmts of the war. hey what works, works.

JK, as far as it being big, well yes, it's big. however i also have a big head (everyone please make room for my ego ) i normally wear a size 7 1/2. so the helmet with the liner inside fits me rather well. as an aside, it's too small for my freind in whoose house i worked on it ( his ego has it's own zip code ) it isn't me in the picture but instead a freind who was wearing it when her dad happened to walk out with a digital camera. it swims on her as you can see by the pictures. but, i also kinda like wearing it low over my eyes like how she is.

overall, i've only had pictorial references of other kettle helms when i mod'ed it. so i took a guess as to it's scale and demensions by how it looked on other people's heads. my biggest concern was that the brim was too small. that and that it would end up looking... well... unusable.

soooo, does it pass for something suitable for an armet event? (i'm holding my breath here)

i'm going to probably pic up another CD helmet this weekend to mess with. any suggestions as to what i could do better? also, looking around, most finials i've seen are huge in comparison to the one i used. i tried putting a larger one on it, but it just didn't look right. any comment or evidence on extant examples of finials? and how would plumage be attached to the finial (look at Wolfe Argent's homepage to see an example of larger finial with plumage and/or decoration)

thanks again for the comments.

have fun,

daniel

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Db

To answer your question - yes, I'd allow it because of thge trouble you took in detailing it (proper suspension harness, altering the brim, etc).

That said, it would be a minimum quality entry level helmet - you did a fine job, and the work you have done is great. The problem is with the details of the beast itself. I think you could make an even more credible job of it if you were to do two things, which are probably difficult (and most likely require heat) 1., add a keel to the bowl of the hat - just a light centerline crease straight down the middle - not a comb 2. roll the edge of the brim - an outward roll. At this time, most edges rolled were rolled to the outside - later, in the 16th century, some were rolled to the inside. The CD pot has a folded over edge, the fold going under the brim.

As to wwhat JK added, most commonly a pomme of wood, gilt or silvered to carry a panach of feathers. A little grandeose for this hat though. Youw were shooting for the integrel point look, I neliev. In many cases, this was just a point at the apex of the bowl, not an added decoration.

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i put a slightly larger finial on it and it looks o.k. the helmet reminds me of a cooking pot lid, but hey...

what i used was a solid milled brass handel knob which i ended up roughing up the mill lines in order for it not to look machined. i don't want this to look like too high end with the finial being raised from the bowl so i used the application of one being peened on. plus i also liked how the brass looked together, the rivets, buckle, and finial.

so i should discard the solid finial in favor of a hollow piece of brass or wood? i could probably get some gold foil in oder to gilt the wooden one but how resiliant to wear would that be? or should i just keep the solid one and tap the top in order to acomodate feathers?

o.k. Bob, taking a closer look at the helms in Medieval Soldier book (i'm using this as areference because i know that you should have a copy) i now notice what you mean by an outward roll. there's one helmet that doesn't appear to have a roll, page 99 bottom. was the edge cut flush?

as a heat source, what i used was a mapp torch with a regular round tip, the kind that you pick up at a hardware store. it heated up the helmet nicely for me to lower the brim. so i should have enough heat to unfold the brim. i think that i should be able to first pry the fold open slightly all around and the slowly work it open until it's flat. i'll work it on a stump so i don't pinch the metal using chisels, hammer, and torch. how do i work the roll over? i noticed on a windlass helmet that a 16 gauge wire was used to support the roll over.

i'll keep the one that i finished as is for right now since we have a presentation for sept? down here. in order for me to heat it up i'll have to take the liner out. i rather just get another and see how it works before assembling it all together. i allready have a second CD helmet in my trunk to work on.

please pass along suggestions as to working the metal that you may have since my "metal working" knowledge comes from a '72 Mach 1 i used to own with a rotted out trunk and rusty floor panels.

back to my studies,

daniel

[ 07-14-2001: Message edited by: LHF ]

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Db

i was taking a break from my studies last night and started to mess with the new CD helmet. i'm really starting to appreciate using heat with metal working. i was able to seperate the fold over with just a screw driver and a lot of heating and turning. i still have to continue to work the fold out with a hammer; i got a ball peen that i'll use for that.

back to my studies and lunch

have fun,

daniel

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Db