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Modifying an Old Deepeeka Coolus C
#1
Hey everyone. I just finished modifying one of the old style Deepeeka Coolus C Helmets. I will post pictures below, here is what i did in a nutshell (it was very cramped to be working in a nutshell)

-Trimmed the oversized neck guard down to 1 3/4" at the back which tapers off to be even with the sides of the helmet behing the cheek pieces. This forms a short sloped guard that has no side "wings"
-Added a chin strap suspension loop to the neck guard
-Trimmed the rims off of the cheek protectors, the origenal had ridges around the cheek guard that stuck up about 1/4 inch all the way around, these I cut off so that the cheek pieces have the same basic shape but are fairly flat and plain.
- I'm not sure in the end what style of coolus this ends up representing, so any helmet experts let me know which model of coolus the helmet now most closely resembles.

I also trimmed the neckguard of an Old Style Coolus E to the same shape as the new model and installed a chin strap suspension loop to the neck guard.
Quintus Licinius Aquila
aka. Kevin Williams

Optio Leg X E V
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romechicago.com">http://www.romechicago.com
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#2
To my eye, it most resembles a Coolus "E" ( and the original neck guard style a type "F" ), but would need to restore central crest holder, either the conical type or the 'sawn-off' type.

The " brow band" swelling on the lower forehead rim is probably not accurate for any Coolus types, which are uniformly smooth bowls - at least all those I know of. Also, all Coolus types seem to have two rivets that hold on the cheekpiece hinges ( you could add 'fake' rivet heads). Smile
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)

"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
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#3
I would have to agree with Paul. There has to be some way of pounding away that raised portion under the peak and then working the metal so that it is flat and smooth. I would then drill holes and pass some copper rivets through and peen them to hold the cheekpieces.
"You have to laugh at life or else what are you going to laugh at?" (Joseph Rosen)


Paolo
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#4
How did you trim down the neck guard? What tool(s) did you use, et cetera?

I've got an mid-generation Coolus E I'd been wanting to trim down/modify for some time

yet another long overdue project. :?
Andy Volpe
"Build a time machine, it would make this [hobby] a lot easier."
https://www.facebook.com/LegionIIICyr/
Legion III Cyrenaica ~ New England U.S.
Higgins Armory Museum 1931-2013 (worked there 2001-2013)
(Collection moved to Worcester Art Museum)
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#5
Quote:How did you trim down the neck guard? What tool(s) did you use, et cetera?

Neck guard trimming can be done with simple tin snips. The metal is only 18 gauge.

A friend of mine did a similar thing to his old Deepeeka Coolus C, He made new cheek guards for it too. He managed to hammer-out the brow ridge too, although it left a slight visible line. If you heat this portion with a blowtorch and quickly quench in a bucket of cold water this will soften the brass enough to work it.

With the old Coolus E- you have a great deaL of examples to replicate. The German and Dutch finds seem to have shorter neck guards than the three found in the UK. The old Deepeeka hat has a rolled brow edge which can either be flattened to resemble the Berkamsted helmet or removed to resemble the Walbrook helmet. (Both are in the database)

Berhamsted
http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/component/ ... Itemid,96/

Walbrook (The chhek guard was not found with the bowl - it comes from Kew.
http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/component/ ... Itemid,96/
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#6
Th Berhamsted seems to have an applied edge strip at the front? Is that correct?
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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#7
Quote:Th Berhamsted seems to have an applied edge strip at the front? Is that correct?

No, IIRC it's actually the edge of the bowl chiselled to form a false ridge - or folded back on itself. I'd need to see it close up again!
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#8
Ahh, ok! Cheers!
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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#9
Thanks for the imput guys. I will work on figuring out a way to pound out that ridge. I went fully modern in my altering of the neck guards. I used 4" metal grinder with a cut-off blade to cut back the guard. If i were to use the cheek plates from an old coolus E on the modified C would that be more accurate? I can easily pound out the ridge and add some copper rivets but I'm not skilled enough yet with my metal skills to make new cheek pieces.
Quintus Licinius Aquila
aka. Kevin Williams

Optio Leg X E V
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romechicago.com">http://www.romechicago.com
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#10
Adrian
That rolled edge on the front of the Berhamsted helps to confirm my belief that many Coolus are hand beaten out, the edge having been part of the flange whist it was being hammered down then when completed the edge trimmed and rolled over.
Brian Stobbs
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#11
Quote:Adrian
That rolled edge on the front of the Berhamsted helps to confirm my belief that many Coolus are hand beaten out, the edge having been part of the flange whist it was being hammered down then when completed the edge trimmed and rolled over.

..unfortunately things are not so clear-cut. (It is a truism that nothing is simple !! ). 'Spinning' (i.e. production on a lathe) as a technique had been in use as early as the 5 C BC for Greek 'pilos' ( simple conical) helmets both in Greece and Italy. This technique too left a circular flange which was trimmed to form the neckpiece, and could leave an 'edge' to be rolled over by hand/hammer. It is often difficult to spot these, for they were often finished by hammering and planishing, which removed the tell-tale concentric marks....thus each individual helmet needs careful and close scrutiny to determine its production method and even then it is not always possible ! Seven of twenty-six 'Hagenau' helmets have distinct marks of having been spun, and their close uniformity of shape suggests most, may have been, although others were certainly hand-beaten. The early years A.D. show the first wide-spread use of spinning for Roman military equipment such as helmets, paterae and shield-bosses/umbones.

The majority of the earlier 'Coolus' helmets seem to have been blocked and raised by hammer in the time honoured fashion but some at least seem to have been spun - at least one has a small centring punch mark for setting up on a lathe.

I should point out for clarification that helmets showing a combination of 'coolus' and 'montefortino' features are now what are referred to as 'Hagenau' types - which difer by having 'montefortino' type crest-holder knobs with a couple of exceptions ( true 'coolus' types never have crest-holders), they have larger more circular neckguards than 'montefortinos', are generally more circular in the rim than 'montefortinos' and almost always have side feather-tubes. Most of Robinson's 'Coolus' D, E, F,G, H, and I types would now be called 'Hagenau'.

BTW, the fact that virtually all 'Hagenaus' have feather-tubes indicate it is a feature of the type, rather than a badge of the rank of 'Optio' as interpreted by the Ermine street Guard, and widely copied.......
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)

"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
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#12
I'm pretty sure that the Berkhamsted bowl also shows concentric lines from the spinning process.

Quote:If i were to use the cheek plates from an old coolus E on the modified C would that be more accurate?

IMO It would be acceptable, but not as accurate. as the Kew cheek plate looks to have been a direct development from the Gallic A type plate. Both the Schaan Coolus and the Nijmegen Gallic A have external fastening studs and a double tie-ring arrangement under the neck guard. The E from Walbrook has internal tie-rings on the cheek plates and a single tie-ring under the neck guard.

Best to use the Schaan pattern or Xanten (a simplified version). The Xanten plates are not that difficult to make from your old Deepeeka C plates!!! :wink:
[Image: plates.jpg]

Xanten plate...
[Image: cheekplatesfromxanten3_20050723_827.jpg]
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#13
Here is a drawing I made for Deepeeka of the Schaan Coolus C. It shows that the neck guard does indeed extend at the sides and not just straight back from the bowl Kev!

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/ ... Slide1.jpg
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#14
So time to work on the cheek plates, it looks like what needs to be done is to cut down the center portion to make the eye and mouth cutouts smaller. That will have to be my next project after i work on the crest box for my Coolus E today
Quintus Licinius Aquila
aka. Kevin Williams

Optio Leg X E V
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romechicago.com">http://www.romechicago.com
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#15
You make with the über piccage, bro?

Ugh, I order a Dep Coolus C Schaan and get a brass behemoth! I think it's a AH6055B as opposed to a AH6055N. Thought about modifying it but I ain't paying good money for something that I have to modify.

Anyhoo, now seven years later, I wonder how your mod went...
Regards, David
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