P53 "Mitchell" Camo Printed BrickArms® M1 Steel Pot Helmet

As Brick Warp gears up to start exploring Vietnam, I am offering a select range of prototype uniforms and equipment pieces as I design them to later utilize in complete minifigures. These products are perfect for kitbashing your own minifigures, or augmenting your collection as I continue to roll out more variety! 

The "Mitchell" camouflage helmet cover may be one of the most misunderstood pieces of material culture surrounding the Vietnam War while continuing to be one of the key images of US involvement. The pattern would actually first be developed during the 1942 Army camouflage trials, which notably resulted in the WWII "Frogskin" being selected at the time. The Mitchell pattern itself originated as the M1942 leaf pattern (often referred to as vines of wineleaf) with a separate pattern participating in the trials as "cloud", later becoming the reverse side of the camouflage produced. There is no documentation where the "Mitchell" name came from, although speculation exists that it was the designer of the cloud pattern, and not the vines. 

The Marine Corps would ultimately adopt the camouflage first as a shelter tent, and later helmet cover, in 1953, with the army following suit shortly thereafter. Due to the prevalence of shelter tents, for which troops had little liking for, the large sections of material were commonly cut and resewn by tailors both on Okinawa and in Vietnam to create unique camouflage uniforms, berets, hats, ect. 

I will be continuing to reference this pattern as P53 "Mitchell" combining the colloquial name people recognize as well as the only concreate military nomenclature we have from the USMC adoption in 1953. For the art itself, I have recreated the full pattern, traced off an original example, matching the the colors to a middle ground of slightly faded, between brand new and heavily used. I hope to offer multiple variants in the future, so you can equip squads with not only diverse camouflage patterns on each helmet, but also the helmet decor and slogans that embody the era. 

Printed on a quality BrickArms® M1 Steel Pot Helmet.