WW2 M1 Helmet atrocity

[Henry 24th]

Dear members of the GMIC.

I present to you this abomination in hopes that a few of you might be able to help.

Since this photo was taken, I have applied a coat of WD40 to it. Most of the felt marker came off but there is still a moderately faint, but definite amount stuck to the helmet.

The WD40 did nothing to the original paint

How do I finish removing the last of the felt tip marker without damaging the paint??!?!?

Soak the helmet in a mild solution of (something)?

Take a q-tip and 100hours of light buffing?

Cover it with a camo net and pretend it never happened???

Please help.

Kindest regards...Henry

btw - anyone with a camo helmet net and/or a proper war time liner for sale, please PM me...thx

[Paul R]

How about the "Goo be gone"? It is a citris based cleaner. IT might work without damaging the helmet finish?

[Ulsterman]

try Westoil. It works on anything.

[Henry 24th]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try both - keep your fingers crossed.

Ulsterman- can you provide more info on the Westoil? Never heard of it.

Is it a cleaning agent? Solvent?

Did you possibly mean Lestoil?

Edited July 24, 2008 by Henry 24th

[Ulsterman]

whoops-

yup, I mean Lestoil. Much to my surprise, it really does seem to work on anything!

[Snoopy]

I really hope that you can succesfully remove the felt marker, because it's a very nice helmet.

All the best

Snoopy

[Henry 24th]

Hello All.

Here is an update on the helmet. Things went very well. Almost all the felt pen has been remove and there is little to no damage to the helmet paint.

I will post the finished images as well as the method to remove the ink (Just in case you should ever want to tackle the same problem) later today. In the meantime here are a few more images of how it looked.

Kind regards...HFJ

[Henry 24th]

[Henry 24th]

Again, if anyone knows where to find a nice (non-mint) liner for this, please let me know.

HFJ

[Henry 24th]

Ulsterman, Paul Snoopy,

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Here are the results

I tried the lestoil after the inital WD40 application. It did remove a little more of the felt marker but unfortunately not enough to be seen.

Next, I tried Goof Off/Goo Gone (Similar product)Goof Off did not cause skin irritation - therefore I applied a small amount to the affected area and rubbed it in, gently, only by hand - no cloth. After doing this to a few areas, I washed the solvent off of the helmet using soap and warm water only. (In order to render any leftover solvent inert.) I let a few days pass between applications. Final result, very pleased and highly recommend this process for removing felt pen.

Here are the pics:

[Henry 24th]

[Henry 24th]

[Henry 24th]

The appearance of a colour change is just different lighting. Sun was not co-operating that day.

[Henry 24th]

Colour is a little better on this pic. Hope this thread is helpful to some.

Maybe there should be a section of restoration/ cleaning tips here on the GMIC

Kind Regards..HFJ

[Snoopy]

Hi

The result is excellent. It's a great looking helmet. Well done. Isn't it a great feeling, when you have succesfully restored an item back to it's original finish?

All the best

Snoopy

[nesredep]

Hi

The result is excellent. It's a great looking helmet. Well done. Isn't it a great feeling, when you have succesfully restored an item back to it's original finish?

All the best

Snoopy

Hello!

I AGREE. :jumping:

All the best

Nesredep