Τρίτη 28 Ιουλίου 2009

Links to my favorite teams

Being around and about, i have cooperated with individual players and teams. I was lucky enough to play in 3 different countries (Hungary, Greece and the Czech Republic) and get involved with different gaming styles.

I present you links to the teams i am feeling close to or being a member of.

First of all the Red Tigers team in Hungary. This is the first team i ever joined and played with. I met the guys in 2007 when i visited Hungary. The team is strictly Milsim oriented which attracted me in a various ways. I spent the first 3 months of my stay as a new recruit and after i proved my shit, i became a full member. Unfortunatelly i couldn’t stay for more than 7 months at that time. Afterwards, i was lucky enough to visit Budapest again this year for 3 months and reunite with the guys. It’s been a blast being back and having the chance to feel the same urge once more.
The team’s site is here http://tigrisek.digitalmania.hu/

Then, the Brotherhood of the Red Circle. Actually, this is the team we formatted with my buddy Deadlock. The whole thing started 3 years ago when i rediscovered Airsoft. We used to play with Deadlock about 15 years ago and i knew that he is skilled player. So, since day one, i was trying to put him back in the game… After coming back from Hungary, we came together and started organising… Since day one we knew that we had to go the «freestyle» way with the team, because there was no way we could agree on any reenacting factors (well, actually Deadlock being an Applied Arts person, he is into Sci-fi neoprene coveralls stuff, so…) and we knew that we wouldn’t attract any other players. We started putting pieces together and so came the Brotherhood…
The team site (which is under construction) is located here http://www.redcircle.gr/

The Hell Reckies Team. Actually the first batch of people with whom i played with after coming back to Greece. We use to play together in big games and kick ass… They are really good players and guys and we love teasing each other. Actually, i could be a member of their team, but wearing Black is not my style of things, so here you go http://hellreckies.com/index_gr.htm

The Scorpions Team. The second best choice for someone to learn about good Airsoft, if in Hungary. The team consists of serious and experienced players. The amount of Airsoft science in the team is incomparable. Everyone has been so friendly and willing to share his knowledge. If you got any question of any shorts, Wolverine and Thrasher is the person to talk to. Their site is here http://www.skorpioairsoft.hu/

Δευτέρα 27 Ιουλίου 2009

MICH 2000


Since most of our games are MOUT or CQB oriented, having the proper protection is a wise factor to consider. That includes helmet, knee and elbow pads. There are so many options to choose from that makes it difficult to stay on point… Well, for me there are two factors that i had to consider. The looks and the size. It had to be a military style helmet (PASGT, MICH, IBH, LWH, ACH and the like) and to be easy to find it in sizes. Usually replica helmets come in «one size fits all», which usually means HUGE!!!! Since i am wearing a 57 size hat (7 ¼ in US size), the 61 size of the replicas was out of the question. Looking around and asking my team mates, i came across the Chain Reaction Cycles shop located in the UK. Browsing around, i found the ultimate solution… The MACE SAS skate helmet. Yeap, a skate helmet that looks like a MICH 2000. The only odd looking details of this spesific helmet are the 4 air openings around the helmet… Well, no problem with that, i have done bigger mods in the past, right?

I purchased the helmet in a Small/Medium size (54-58 size) and Brown colour, which was a great platform to start from. I bout the helmet for a price of around 25 euros and another 8 for the shipping. This is how it all started...

The moment i got, i had to cover the air holes. I glued a piece of plastic with epoxy resin. Then, i started filling the gap with resin. After some applications, the holes were covered. I sanded the excess of the resin to make it flat and uniform with the shell.

When it was done, i primed the shell with a dark brown spray colour. I let it dry and then grabbed my Montana spray cans. For this work, i chose a Light Tan, Pallish Brown and Flat Dark Earth hues. I applied several thin layers of colour, using an old scarf to create the pattern. When it was dry, i applied 2-3 thin layers of clear mat varnish and let it dry…

So, i got me a beautiful helmet, but it looks empty. So, i had to go the Spec Ops way once more. Inittialy i glued on the shell layers of Velcro, using a hot melt glue pistol. When the strips were secured, i applied lines of glue around them. Then, i painted these lines with a black paint, using a thin brush.

The chin straps were completely useless, so i replaced them with a set of original MSA MICH straps. Unfortunatelly i found them in Foliage Green, so i had to dust them with Tan…


The next step was to mount on the shell a real deal NVG mount strap. Actually, it is meant for the PASGT helmet, but damn these Ebay sellers…


To secure my back up goggles i purchased a set of Goggle Retention Straps from Supply Captain in Coyote Brown. So, now my Arena Flak Goggles are nice and secure.


Finally, since the helmet is made for CQB work, i threw on it a simple Energizer head lamp. I would prefere to go the Petzl way, but i didn’t want to paint it, so i chose to go cheap but with no guilt…
I guess it’s a good work. It looks the part and it’s absolutely stable on my head, compared with the rest of the crappy replicas out there…