M1 helmet colour

I use that modelers paint humbrol, 1 small tin wil cover 1 helmet, mix it up & pour it into a jam jar lid & brush it on with a 1" brush, then leave it for a few days to cure properly & spray it with a clear matt laquer, then you will not see any brush marks at all, the colour you need is humbrol matt 116, dark green, use somthing like humbrol matt spray varnish, its very matt & hard wearing,

Ste.D

If you're redoing a post-war helmet without texture or sand texture, why not get some small grain crushed cork and mix that in to the first layer of paint.

Paint colours varied from factory/plant and from batch to batch, there was no high level of quality control when it came to colours back then.
Also the paint on the helmets was cured in ovens (don't try this at home unless you don't want to eat from your old stove ever again).

A dark Olive Drab colour as suggested is fine. I've painted mine with Modelmaster Dark Green (their OD is too light in my opinion). And I've gotten some sprayed with Militairy vehicle rattle cans, also rather light, but you can fix that with a coat of WD40.

Good Luck!

Rick

I have some of the "correct colour" spray that SoF were selling a couple of years ago. If you're not in a great hurry I can bring it along to the April game and we can give it a spraying before the game

As Mr.Flibble correctly says a WW2 helmet should have ground cork texture applied. If you are going to net and scrim your pot thats not so much a deal but a bare helmet without cork looks naked. It really can help to pull your look together, headwear catches the eye first.
If you are just going to do the odd skirmish then dont fret but for long term WW2 battling I'd say do it once, do it right, or as right as you can afford.