I'm having no end of problems fitting a repro liner into an original MKII shell. The liner fits my mahoosive head on its own but when I fit it into the shell it squashes up and becomes too small. Are there different shell sizes for the MKII or am I doing something wrong?
I just shaved off (small bits at a time until it fits comfortably) the black rubber bits around the perimeter of the liner to make it fit our RAC helmet shells. I assume you can do the same for the MKII.
Pretty sure thats the case.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
If its an SOF repro liner then i believe they were made for MKIII turtle type helmets but as previously said trim bits off the rubber buffers and it fits great 
Yes it's the SOF one. Considering the price I and the fact that it's sold as a MKII liner I would have expected it to fit without resorting to the stanley knife....grumble grumble...
SOF liners are rubbish... Pegasus make superb ones.
As for the rubber buffers, the number they have on them should vary with the size of the liner. It wouldn't surprise me if SoF got this wrong.
I have a pdf of a magazine article that goes into this in incredible detail.
SOF liners are rubbish... Pegasus make superb ones.
As for the rubber buffers, the number they have on them should vary with the size of the liner. It wouldn't surprise me if SoF got this wrong.
I have a pdf of a magazine article that goes into this in incredible detail.
Yes i suppose they are rubbish when they dont fit but i have a Mk2 now with one fitted and think its fantastic-nice wereable size and more comfortable than original liners as the material is softer
PS i didnt buy the liner new and never would either as they are way too expensive 
There's other things wrong with them as well... the Pegasus ones are so close to originals that you have problems setting the apart... well apart from an original generally looks old...
Didn't even know Pegasus made them - you wouldn't know it from their site. Anyhoo I've followed Barry's advice and trimmed down a few of the buffers to make the liner circumference right. I've also ditched the X-shaped padding for the crown as the helmet sits too high up with it attached (at least it does on my huge noggin). All in all it's now a pretty good fit. I just need to find someone that will sell me the kind of leather used in the strap so I can re-furb that.
Didn't even know Pegasus made them - you wouldn't know it from their site. Anyhoo I've followed Barry's advice and trimmed down a few of the buffers to make the liner circumference right. I've also ditched the X-shaped padding for the crown as the helmet sits too high up with it attached (at least it does on my huge noggin). All in all it's now a pretty good fit. I just need to find someone that will sell me the kind of leather used in the strap so I can re-furb that.
Not sure what type of helmet you are trying to reproduce but WW2 ones had a web chinstrap not leather-or are you doing a WW1 one?
Glad to hear you got the liner to fit
Yep you can get MKII & III sprung web chinstraps from sabre sales for £2
I might even have a spare MKII chinstrap you can have martin next event i see you at.
MKI and MKII airborne helmets have leather straps but not inf ones.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
The rotted one on mine is definitely leather with a brass buckle but I'll swap it over for a webbing one. Cheers Gadge, nice offer.
PM me your address mate and keep nagging me for it, i will send it out to you eventually!
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
The MkII I have needs a refurb.
The liner is OK but the shell needs storage marks removing and a repaint.
Any advice welcome on what type and colour of paint to use. The current paint is variable so I do not want to match to it.
Here's a link from a guy who restores Brodies. They call them doughboy helmets which always makes me laugh.
http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/80th/re ... elmets.htm
Thanks for the link. I think his info relates only to WW1 helmets.
The MKII I have is stamped 1943 and is painted Service Brown (Shade BS 381C 499 Service brown). I have sourced some Matt brown paint to use on it. I was just wondering if the MK II's came in several colours as the refurbished ones I have seen offered for sale have been various shades of green. As a kid I had an air raid warden's helmet that was black on the outside and brown inside and a police helmet that seemed to have been plated blue from new.
I have a 1938 MKII thats had at least three different coats and all look bloody old.
I think quite often they were repainted with whatever paint was to hand.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."