Gentex H-4 Flight Helmet Restoration

[rwdfresno]

Merry Christmas WIXers,

Well it is that time of year that we do indoor things here in Colorado. One of the things I have been looking forward to working on is my Gentex H-4 US Navy Flight Helmet. I've always wanted a replica of Lieutenant Harry Brubaker's (William Holden) helmet in "The Bridges of Toko-Ri." It was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and I'd sit in the cockpit of my dad's F9F-2 Panther when I was a kid and pretend I as Brubaker.



I have an H-4 Helmet that needs some work and has been repainted previously by someone who didn't mask anything off and the mic. boom mount and rivets have all been painted gold. It is a good candidate for repainting because I don't have to feel bad about destroying the orginiality of it.



It has some cracking as you can see. Does anyone know what the best material is for filling these cracks would be? I beleive the helmet material is fiberglass but I haven't worked with fiberglass in about 12 years so I'm not all that educated on how to best deal with it.



Thanks,

Ryan

Link to a previous thread where we discussed the origins of the helmet logo http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=37095

[The Inspector]

Do you plan on wearing it or displaying it? Any of the modern two part professional body fillers and glazes will do an excellent job on plastering the cracks, take the helmet with you when you visit your local auto body paint store so the clerk can see exactly what's what and can recommend a correct filler for your application.

Be very careful removing any old finish so you don't do any damage to the subsurface. I wouldn't recommend wearing 60+ year old fiberglass as it will be very brittle and very well could shatter upon a moderate impact. As a rule of thumb the avergae motorecycle rider buys a new helmet about every 5 or so years because of potential UV damage, I bought a new CFRP half helmet last year and plan on making it a shelf decoration within the next 18 months because of CFRP's issues with UVA and UVB.

[rwdfresno]

The only time I will be wearing it is while I'm watching "The Bridges of Toko-Ri" on the big screen. Thanks for the tip on the body filler.

Thanks, Ryan

[The Inspector]

Have you installed windshield wipers on the inside of your goggles for when you make the 'PPPTTTTTT' noise with your tongue?

[Tinker51]

The paint cracking you are seeing is probably the result of the gold paint being incompatible with whatever paint underneath it is.
You may well want to take it down to the glass or the layer you apply on the gold may well crack too.

Of course, it does add a certain patina.

[rwdfresno]

I don't believe the cracking is just the paint layer. The cracks go down into the first layers of fiberglass, so I'd definitely like to fill them to avoid further deterioration. These early fiberglass helmets seem to be a bit notorious for this sort of cracking.

Thanks, Ryan

[Cherrybomber13]

I would think a good soda blasting (using Baking Soda) would clean it up lickity split. Soda doesn't hurt fiberglass. Try your local body shops one of them might do it for a 6-pack.

[tom d. friedman]

i have seen many painted in gold!! there must have been a 50's sci/fi martian fad!!

[Saville]

Hey rwdfresno,

Always a good Wintertime activity. I've restored helmets from the same era (P-1 and P-3). I did the same thing to one of them that you plan on doing: painted it as a copy of a movie helmet (The Hunters):

The Original from the movie:



My 3 P-helmets...with the replica on the right. It's operational with modern electronics and Oregon aero ear cups:



I have a few suggestions:

1) If it is truly fiberglass, I would use epoxy to fill the cracks.

- the earliest P-helmets were a Bakelite-like material

2) Once you get it down to the fiberglass and fill the cracks and sand it, use a "filler" primer to prime it. You can find these at any auto parts/body shop store.

3) If you need a new headband, you can find them online.

4) If Brubaker's helmet has the US Navy wings you can get new decals for that online as well.

As you have those snaps on the front, I suspect this was one of the types that had the cloth helmet that they wore underneath the H-4.

Have fun and good luck with it.

[shrike]

Not sure about the Martian Styling, but there are a pair of these helmets on eBay right now, and both are gold (ok, one is goldy green)

[rwdfresno]

Not sure about the Martian Styling, but there are a pair of these helmets on eBay right now, and both are gold (ok, one is goldy green)
Not sure about the Martian Styling, but there are a pair of these helmets on eBay right now, and both are gold (ok, one is goldy green)

Most of the originals I have seen have been gold. The metalic substance in the gold seems to turn green over time.

Hey rwdfresno,

Always a good Wintertime activity. I've restored helmets from the same era (P-1 and P-3). I did the same thing to one of them that you plan on doing: painted it as a copy of a movie helmet (The Hunters):

VERY COOL. Nice job. Thanks for the tips as well.

Ryan

[Jack Cook]

I have a cool H-4 used by a Skyraider pilot from VC-11. You can
see the gold underneath but he figured black would be better than shiny
gold for running around Korean skies at night hench the paint job. I
have a new boom mike for it and a new soft helmet that he had still in
the boxes but never quite figutred out how that stuff comes together.

[BTromblay]

Hi,

Cool helmet. I would recommend sanding off the paint. If you use wet/dry paper with water, you can remove the paint really quick. The filler I use is a glazing putty from my Auto paint supply store. You will find that it is easier to sand then epoxy, fills nice and doesn't shrink. Filling primer will help as well, but you will need to get it pretty close with sanding and fillers before you use the primer. The paint stores are real good at helping you get the right product for your application. I fixed a USAF helmet for a guy and he was real happy. He flies with it and I think he uses it when he drives as well:)

Cheers,

Bill