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Mounting the Helmet plate.
Autie


Joined: 06 Mar 2009
Posts: 8
Location: Victoria,British Columbia, Canada
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Could someone give me an idea as to the correct spot to mount the helmet plate to the foreign service helmet. I've seen photos that show it
being placed above the white cloth band that runs around the helmet. but I've also seen images that show the bottom of the plate level with the bottom of the white cloth band. I'm sure that there must be a regulation that gives a measurment from the bottom peak ...any ideas?
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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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Which helmet plate are you mounting? The HPC (Helmet Plate Center) mounted to the QVC or KC (Queen Victoria Crown or King's Crown) backing plate, the one piece full plate with a cast integral numeral or just the Last Shako Plate, which I believe was used by several regiments during the AZW until stocks of the two piece plate were available? What era are you attempting to reproduce?

Both of the full plates take up a lot of real estate on the helmet and in the example I have, the lowermost point of the star is a half inch or so above the BOTTOM edge of the band-- which puts the top point of the crown about three eights or so of an inch from the leading tip of front arm of the cruciform spike base, which you probably don't have mounted on your example (you probably have the ventilator dome in place?). That example has the two piece full backing plate with HPC.


Last edited by Sawubona on Tue May 05, 2009 10:41 am; edited 1 time in total
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Autie


Joined: 06 Mar 2009
Posts: 8
Location: Victoria,British Columbia, Canada
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Sawubona, I'm working on the foreign Service Helmet with the 1868 Officer's gilt one piece with the 24 numeral and Sphinx. I've lined up the bottom of the plate(the Sphinx) flush with the bottom of the cloth band....does this sound right? One other question,should the sphinx on the plate be Silver or Gold? Thanks for your input.
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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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Sounds about right for the location. If there is/was a regulation for it's placement, it doesn't seem to have been followed very closely. I've several period helmets with the plates affixed and they vary some. Anyone?

You have, of course, the last shako plate, which although not created to be put on a foreign service helmet was used while waiting for stocks of the first "true" helmet plates to arrive in SA. It's therefore perfectly correct for the AZW for the 24th. To my knowledge, the sphinx should be silver.

Parenthetically I have an interesting helmet which I know little about. It's obviously an officer's helmet (rank unknown) having the typical shape of an early six panel foreign service helmet, but on closer inspection, it's covered with white dyed doeskin instead of the expected canvas. My guess is that some or all officers provided their own headgear and that the prosaic canvas just wasn't good enough for the owner of this. There's no evidence of a cruciform spike base or a helmet plate of any sort having been affixed. Sadly, I'll never know more about it's history. As I'm certainly no expert, I would welcome any thoughts.
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Mounting the Helmet plate.
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