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I'm talking about a headgear that is a feature of WH40k Praetorians IG

1. When has it been introduced? how do the original shapes of the helmet comes from? did the Britsh original Pith helmet modelled after ones worn by Dragoon and Cuirassier?
2. Apart of heat and rain. what protection does the 'Indian-made' pith helmet provides to the wearer? is it melee attacks with any blade weapons likely to expected in colonial combats?
3. Is the original pith helmet made by wickerworks (basket style)?
4. In europe, while the felt/hard leather was easier to obtain, why the sun helmet made to use in Europe (or in rare case, ones made to exports to the USA, Canada and even Siam) was made of cork instead of tannery products?
5. Is it also worn by Civil fire Department?
6. Even after the WW1, when it is clear that sun helmet becomes inadquate to the new warfare. why many armies, constables, and 'home guard' units still adopt the sun helmets made of non-ballistic materials?
- British changed the 'Praetorian' pith helmet to the Woosley ones
- French also came up with the M1931,
- Siamese authority copied the French sun helmet designs and replaced the Victorian era ones introduced earlier. the helmet was a regular headgear of the Armed forcecs during, and even after the WW2, (which the sun helmet was slowly replaced by many headgears introduced by the Americans in the cold war. The Border Patrol police worn this Colonial-era relics till 1990s (and later replaced ones with either American baseball caps, broad brim hats, or berets), Policemen only wear it on Ceremony, ... Only the Royal Guards still found wearing sun helmet as official uniform, however, the most modern patterns were made of plastics (possibly the PE/PVC or Acryllic... anything that can be produced domestically.. Thailand (a nation once called Siam) has become more and more industrialized since the late 80s).
Thai reenactors who reenacts the King Chulalongkorn era Siamese nobles, bureaucrats, and even soldiers wear the wrong sun helmet! I've seen many of them wearing Viet cong (plastic) sun helmets (possibly made in China or Vietnam)... which it didn't becomes available by then. the details of the corrected pattern sun helmet that these reenactors should wear can be found here http://www.militarysunhelmets.com/2012/sun-helmets-of-thailand


Worn-out Siamese Army sun helmet. part of official uniform from 1931-1970s (probably ceremonial ones but also worn in active duty during the Revolution of 1932 and the followed-up Bavorndej Rebellion) ... usually mistook by the reenactors as sun helmets worn during King Chulalongkorn era.


^ Border patrol sun helmet. this one seens to protect wearer from nothing but sun. it might not even protect wearer from rain! I've never seen this sun helmet before so I guess it might be made of hard cardbord paper or multi layered cloths sewn together (by the 1950s First industrial textile mills appeared in Thailand. almost every textiles then were run by private sectors). it might also be made of Sola pith or reeds. depends on who got the manufacturing contracts.
- Italian colonial troops, wear one even in the face of superior Americans
- German Afrika Korps. the copy of M1931 was seen don by Rommel's troops, alongside with Stahlhelmet.
- USA Armed forces. these helmets also worn by American troops garrisoned in Thailand during Vietnam war.

7. Did the french Adrian helmet introduced during WW1 also modelled after sun helmet?

Some of these questions belong on Who Wants to be a Milliner.

Very tricky.

1. 1840's for British troops (in India).

2. Probably very little given the construction materials (pith). Helmets to protect the head from shrapnel were first introduced during the First World War.

3. Not sure, I can't tell from looking at mine since it has an inner cloth cover. I would guess the pith is woven in some fashion.

4. There are two different helmets the foreign service and the home service helmet, both made of different materials.

5. Where? Probably not I don't imagine it is terribly fire proof.

6. Sun hats keep you cool, heat stroke can be a killer as much as shrapnel.

7. Unlikely they're quite different in purpose and shape.

 George Spiggott wrote:

7. Unlikely they're quite different in purpose and shape.

1. OK Sun helmet and Adrians wree designed for different purposes, one to protect wearer from weather, other for troops in trench due to artillery overkill rates that never has been achieved before!, but without comb, Adrian helmet has similar appearances as sun helmets
2. recommended vendor of 28-30 mm miniature heads wearing pith helmets, and ones wearing adreans please

 Lone Cat wrote:
1. OK Sun helmet and Adrians wree designed for different purposes, one to protect wearer from weather, other for troops in trench due to artillery overkill rates that never has been achieved before!, but without comb, Adrian helmet has similar appearances as sun helmets
2. recommended vendor of 28-30 mm miniature heads wearing pith helmets, and ones wearing adreans please

I'm sat looking at my replica British Army pith helmet (Zulu style) as I type, it really looks very little like an Adrian helmet in my opinion. As for manufacturers you could try these: http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/pith-helmet-heads-1 I've no idea who does 28mm Adrian helmets.