Wolseley to Italian pith helmet tutorial

[Gian]

Some years ago, someone had posted a tutorial to convert a repro Wolseley helmet into a proper Italian pith helmet. It has now disappeared. Is it possible to post it again for the benefit of re-enactors? Thanks.

 

[Webmaster]

Ciao Gian. I have seen multiple searches for that post and have tried to recover it via the archives. Unfortunately, I could not find it there either. Hopefully someone can assist you.

 

[Gian]

Ciao Jim, I hope someone can provide scans of the old article or rewrite it.

 

[Gian]

I have looked at pics of the two types for some time and I noticed the following elements that can be used as tips for a conversion:

the dome of a Wolseley is covered in cloth; whereas an Italian pith helmet's dome is not (and is painted tan).
A Wolseley has a lighter shade of khaki while an Italian one is darker.
An Italian pith helmet has a right-side pocket to accommodate feathers, while the Wolseley doesn't.
Finally, an Italian one has a rounder brim in the rear, whereas the British sun helmet has more corners.

Now let's see what else can be added to these.

 

[jwsleser]

The Italian casco is cloth covered. The original video was done by Neal who is a member of Mediterraneo. I was hoping the video was on their website, but alas it is not.

The conversion isn't much. A trimming of the brim to better reflect the shape of an Italian casco, staining of the cloth for a better color, fitting a side pouch, and fitting an Italian vent to the top of the helmet. In all, not a very good conversion as the basic shape of the Wolseley is different from a casco.

But better than nothing.

Pista! Jeff