Background

My initial stab at making a passable fake Russian style military helmet for airsoft consisted of a simple open face motor cycle helmet. This style of helmet generally approximates in it's shape to a couple of the helmets in use in the Russian Army - most notably the SKAT.

Left: Perhaps a better shape than the more spherical motorcycle helmet - the Alpina Cobra snowboarding helmet.

However, I always had a few misgivings about my 'make do' fake. For a start, it was still heavy (though nowhere near the real thing!), and it was very close fitting, and - most importantly - the protective foam virtually stopped any sound form reaching my ears. Not good in a tactical situation!

So, I recently decided to see if I could do better (writing off the first helmet as a learning experience).

New candidate

I did learn a few things about what I did and didn't want in a helmet. For a start I wanted something a lot lighter and less bulky. I also wanted something that would allow me to hear better.

I started looking around at what tactical helmets for airsofters that there were out there. In particular I liked the look of the Bolle Shelmet and some of the Protec helmets, which were very popular with airsofters but which had started life as skate boarding or snowboarding helmets. Unfortunately, perhaps because of their origin, their design tended to be a little more trendy and 'cool' looking than would have been suitable for a Russian army piece of kit.

However, snowboarding helmets seemed exactly what I wanted in terms of their manufacture and components.

Eventually, a lot of Googling helped me find a couple of helmets that broadly matched the general shape I was looking for (spherical, but with close fitting sides covering the ears - effectively slimed down versions of my original motorcycle helmet). These shapes - I soon discovered - were termed as 'retro' style snowboarding helmets, and one in particular caught my eye, the Alpina Cobra.

The Alpina Cobra

The Cobra seemed to have everything I wanted, although it did have some design styling that I would have preferred it not to have (some subtle 'go faster' lines moulded into the plastic), but these were so discrete that at a distance you can't see them anyway.

Left: The Alpina helmet has a few novel features that make it ideal for airsoft than a real steel helmet. This rear view shows two nice touches; a goggles retention strap and a size adjusting dial.

One very nice feature - though definitely not one the real Serpha helmet has - is some holes in the side to allow better hearing. The chin strap is also not very military looking, and also the 'out the box' Cobra comes with some very gaudy decals.

So my plan was simple. Purchase the black version (as that would make a good base colour), remove the decals and spray the helmet with olive dra Krylon. I might also do something with the chin strap to make it more military looking.

Stage one - the helmet arrives

On receiving the helmet I was very impressed with both how light it was and also how ingenious the fitting system was. The Alpiina range come with a novel little dial attached to some straps which make the inner liner bigger or smaller to suit your exact head size (the helmet itself also comes in the usual s/M/L/XL - so this extra sizing allows for an absolutely perfect fit).

The decals - including the Alpina badge - came off very easily indeed, leaving me with a base black helmet.

Trying it on I found that this was absolutely the helmet I was looking for (at least until somebody makes a proper Russian replica helmet for airsoft). It was really nice looking, and in its plain black looked very tactical. I tried on my black balaclava and Bolle X800 goggles and the result was a very cool tactical look! Were the helmet not in a high gloss black I might have even been tempted to leave it as it was.

Stage two - Krylon

I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on one of the few remaining cans of Krylon olice drab pain. Krylon have discontinued their 'camouflage' range, and my only other recourse would have been to use automotive paint.

First I had to clean the grease from fingerprints and the remaining smears of glue from the decals from the helmet with washing-up liquid and hot water. Then I would have to lightly clean the helmet again with a very light coating of paint thinners (Krylon recommends this). I presume this gives the Krylon a suitable surface to bond to (though I did take the precaution of testing a very small area first to make sure it didn't melt the plastic).

Next I 'Kylon'd'! Following the instructions on the can - giving the helmet a very light coating, building up the paint. The instructions also recommend following this up with a second coating after 7 days, to make the job more chip resistant.

Stage three, four and whatever...

Here's the result. As you can see it's only a passing resemblance to the real thing, but most importantly it's 100% suitable for airsoft. I've added my Bolle X800 goggles for this quick mock-up, as I've found several photos on Militaryphoto.net of Russian soldiers actually using the X800s.

Once combined with a good uniform layout the fake helmet blends in really nicely. Though I could additionally disguise it by adding a nice Russian camo helmet cover. In the end, you have to decide for yourself what you are after - practicality or authenticity, or like me - a 'somewhere in between' kind of thing. No, it won't fool any of the 'geardos', but I really don't want to go down that avenue anyway - after all, we are only grown men playing at soldiers - so arguing the toss over authenticity is a bit academic anyway! :)

Link: Alpina snowboarding & ski helmet range