Re-Webbing M1 Helmet Liners
Author: Chris Guska
Date: July, 2009
Step 2: Paint Removal
I remember back on the WW2 Reenactors.Proboards forum there was quite some debate on the best way of removing paint from a helmet liner. The fear was that modern chemical paint strippers would "melt" the helmet liners. Several interesting methods were proposed and I figured that I'd try a few things out to see what worked best.
1.) Sanding
2.) Wire Wheel
3.) Chemical Paint Removers
Sanding: Just sand it like you would at an auto body shop! Its basically fibreglass, so its easy enough. I hate sanding, its dusty, time consuming work - and the helmet liners are nothing but curves which dont lend themselves well to power sanders. I didnt feel like wasting my time on this method, so I didnt. You'd need to carefully sand all the paint off (which sometimes is multipe coats with texture), then re-sand with progressively finer sandpaper to clean up all the scratches you've put in the finish that will show once painted....
It may work, but Not Reccomended.
Wire Wheel: Somebody had the brilliant idea of using a wire wheel or cup brush with a "soft" wire to strip the paint just as you would off of steel or something else. I figured, why not?, since it involved power tools and would probably remove some seriously stubborn paint from one of the liners that had 15 layers. Using an angle grinder and cheap light duty cup brush I was sucessfully able to remove the paint from the liner. It works - but it does take some work once you're done to sand certain sections of the liner. Since the liner is composed over overlapping strips, impregneated with resin - there are some hard/soft areas on the liner's surface - such that when you use the wire wheel, the hard areas stay intact with a nice smooth shiny surface but the softer areas between strips are eroded away leaving a fuzzy/etched looking surface that needs sanded smooth or the pattern of the webbing will show through when painted.
Not reccomended.
Chemical Paint Stripper: Everybody on the forum seemed afraid that chemical paint stripper would "melt" the helmet liner, rendering it a useless puddle of goop on your workbench or garage floor. I've had good luck in the past with Citristrip and figured that I'd try it out. I found that the Citristrip was gentle enough not to instantly dissolve or in any way weaken or melt the helmet liner itself while being able to strip one or two layers of paint at a time. It took multiple applications, with 20-30 minutes "cook time" between applications and scrubbing in the sink under running water with a steel wool pad to remove the paint, but I was successful in doing so without any damage to the liners. The liners were clean and smooth, without need for sanding or any other surface preparation for paint besides a quick cleanup with windex and a paper towel.
Interestingly I was able to control the paint removal such that I could explore for unit markings or insignia at each level of paint. While stripping the multitude of liners I discovered that teh liner I had been wearing for years was in fact a 5th ID marked NCO liner with horizontal stripe.... kinda wild.
If you're smart and saved yourself a heaping steaming mound of fiddly work and just bought a ready made liner kit - proceed to Step 5
Quicklinks:
X.) Introduction
0.) Tools & Equipment Needed / Sources
1.) Liner Preparation
2.) Paint Removal (You are here)
3.) Making the liner kit (optional)
4.) Hardware Prep
5.) Webbing Installation
6.) Paint & Finishing
