OK, apologies - I am obviously very rusty at doing this sort of thing...But hope it's of some interest IF you can bear with me! LOL

A very big thank you goes out to Spider.

Link to ASG's product page: CZ75D Compact metal slide

Link to the Wikipedia entry for the real steel CZ 75 - Interestingly, according to this information my 'CZ 75D' is actually termed a CZ P-01 and was the new weapon of choice for the Czech National Police since 2001. 

Knee pads - like face protection - seem to be one of those holy grail type things in airsoft. It is a veritable quest to find the set that suits you, I've been through three different types before I settled on my last pair - a paintballing set by NXE. These, in common with most knee protection pads, are an elasticated set where the straps of the pad fasten around the knee with velcro.

Left: The NXe Techna-Flex Knee Pads. Not very military looking.

I don't need to tell anyone who has used a similar system for knee pads the disadvantages. We all bemoan the constant slipping down if you don't tighten the straps tight enough, or the feet turning blue if you have! But the NXe pads have been the best of the bunch so far - including several 'military type' knee pads - and seem to stay up better than most. The down side is that they don't look very military and I find it best if you wear them next to your skin - for extra grip - so I wear them under my combat trousers (but then if they do fall down they are a pig to get back up again)!

However, it's the restriction to circulation that annoys me most about these and other pads. Every time I finish a days airsofting I have those marks on my legs where the elastic has cut into my skin. So when I saw the Dexter Meadows' Clip-on Knee Pads about two years ago I thought they would be worth a try and I bought a pair as soon as I knew I was going to return to airsoft.

Doctor Airsoft takes up the story...

As you can see the Dexter Meadows pads are designed to get around the two main problems with conventional knee pads, plus I like the idea you can simply remove your trousers (not that I do that often in the field) and the pads stay attached to them. No horsing around before every game trying to relocate the pads back in that comfy position that you had the last time you played.

Only downside with these pads are that they aren't available in the UK at all as far as I can see. I got mine for Redwolf Airsoft in Hong Kong, they cost $29.99 plus shipping (but at least managed to avoid our HM Customs mugging me this time). I'm surprised there are no distributers in the UK because as far as I can see this product is something that would sell like hot cakes here.

Link to the rather dodgy (do they use knee pads for line dancing?) Dexter Meadows web site.

Part One is all about my headgear. At Centurian I wore my my Army of Two skull mask (with mesh eye protection) but had a couple of major problems with it, it greatly restricted my peripheral vision and also squashed my nose and so made it hard for me to breath properly. Not good.

The other things that niggled me were that I wore a hoodie with the hood up for protection and to camo my big pink baldy head! This wasn't ideal as it kept slipping down and was also quite hot and made me sweat even more than I usually do. And finally, I was still a little nervous about using mesh for eye protection on it's own - with the increase in use of biodegradable BBs (I was using them myself) there is always the possibility of splintering and eye injuries.

Flecktern headgear Mk. II
So to get around these annoyances I bought myself a copy of the Black Bear Rampage full-face mesh mask made by TMC. This is something like a fencing mask with wire mesh that allows for good circulation of air and a wide and unobstructed view.

Peripheral vision is so important in airsoft, not only does it – obviously – help you spot possible targets but also is an aid to your spacial and environmental awareness. Sure footing when navigation rough and uneven woodland is so much harder when you don’t have a wide field of vision, as I found out – painfully – at Centurian with my Skull mask’s very limited mesh eye sockets.

However, as I said this mask is the WIRE mesh type, rather than the perforated steel sheet type, so I do have some safety concerns. But the good news is that I can fit a pair of low profile Bolle safety glasses underneath the mask, it’s a tight squeeze but they do provide a second layer of protection. I’m also looking into whether I can cut a thin sheet of Lexan plastic to attach to the inside of the mask so I don’t have to squeeze the glasses in.

Aside from the mask itself I have a few other items to complete my Flecktern headgear. I have bought a Flecktern Boonie hat to help break up the outline shape of my head and provide some shade, as well as finish off the look of the loadout. It’s not the standard German Army boonie – with the wide brim – but a special version cut in the British ’95 boonie fashion , the Helikon-Tex Soldier 95 Hat - Flecktarn (Ripstop). Ideal for recon.

Underneath the mask I wear two more items. First is a bog standard black sweat band, absolutely necessary with my bald head as – having no hair – the sweat tends to run straight into my eyes and as I cannot lift the mask to wipe away sweat the headband is a must. As well as this I have also bought a Milspec Flecktern snood, just to hide my exposed head for extra camouflage.

Above: Yep, it's just a bog standard sweat band, but a must have piece of kit if you are a slap head like myself. I swear sweat on a hot day stings like acid when it gets in your eyes - but you mustn't remove your mask to wipe it away! This just cost a quid or so from Amazon.

Above: The distinctive curved shape of these low profile Bolles means that they can fit underneath the TMC full-face mesh mask, Belt and braces I know but these wire mesh masks have been shown to be less safe than their perforated steel plate mesh counterparts.

Even though the production quality is quite low and I wasn't working from a script I decided that it would be a shame to just bin this footage after I had finished the work and thought that they might be of some use to someone somewhere (maybe)!

So here's part one of my Type 89 RIS upgrade. Please forgive the sound quality, my shaky camera work and my stuttering narrative (and the over use of 'OK')! LOL

Link to the next part in this series: Type 89 AEG - Laylax RIS upgrade - Part 2

Source: Ubisoft

Well, after three years I have decided that it's time that I dust off the idea and have a go at some of the new CQB sites that have sprung up in the region.

Luckily for me the items required for this impression are widely available, SWAT based impressions are hugely popular, but I decided not to go with the usual black BDU look and instead wanted an olive drab scheme so that if I had to use the kit in a woodland area I wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb!

Kit collection so far...
Aside from the center-piece - the DSA SA58 - I have already gathered together some of the uniform kit required, a big part of which is the distinctive load carrying rig. I went for a pretty standard looking tactical vest for that classic SWAT look, but while there are plenty of cheap tac-vests out there I found a pretty cool one in the J-Tech M7.

The M7 is a Taiwanese product and while it is similar to budget vests made by the likes of Viper it does have one very unique property, the front MOLLE panels are removable and so you can quickly change over your pouch layout without the usual unthreading of MOLLE straps. This makes the vest very flexible, enabling you to easily outfit yourself with different ammo and equipment stowage for different missions - between games!

One downside of this type of vest is that if you are tall - I am 6' 4" - the shoulder straps tend not to extend enough so the overall length of the vest is a bit on the short side. I got around this by having it customized by a UK based tactical tailor, lengthening the shoulder straps to accommodate my height.

Additionally, despite the excellent flexibility afforded by the removable MOLLE panels the rest of the pouches on the vest are fixed, which is a pity. You have a shotgun shell pouch and a rifle but pad on the right and a set of pistol mag pouches and small compass pouch on the right. I wish these had been made removable too so you could further customize your loadout.

I have bought several alternative pouch panels to go with the rig, plus different types of MOLLE pouches for the various mags and equipment I will be using. Aside from all this I have collected together some smaller items like gloves, protective knee and elbow pads and duty belt and holster.

Face protection
An important part of any CQB loadout is the face protection. Up close engagements means choosing your headgear carefully, a full face mask of some sort should be mandatory. I had already bought a Rainbow 6 style helmet made by Alpine which I sprayed with Krylon olive drab paint (it was black). This helmet provides full coverage for the side of the face and ears, but is open faced.

To protect my eyes I wanted to use standard goggles - not mesh because of the growing use of bio-degradable BBs - and the set I found most successful in combating fogging was my Bolle X800s, but this still left my mouth and chin venerable. I have tried several types of neoprene mouth guards and balaclava combinations, but found them restrictive and actually aggravated fogging because of the condensation which built up due to having to breath heavily.

Quite by chance I discovered that a full face mask which I bought for another loadout actually fitted quite snuggly beneath the Alpine helmet! And with the Bolle goggles placed on top of the mask I had the perfect (perhaps!) face protection that was also least likely to fog. I will probably spray the face mask with the same OD Krylon paint - it should look quite intimidating!

Right: The face mask is a Chinese copy of the Matrix Soldier mask available from Ebaybanned.com for $36. It is made of very solid glass-fibre.

I am toying with the idea of adding a pair of ESS Turbofan goggle to help fight the fogging problem and I also want to add a fake night vision mount to the helmet to finish off that SWAT look.

Next...
in the next part of this mini-series I will look at the choice of uniform and boots and trying on the kit I have so far...

Unfortunately for me, while a good 1:1 scale replica of the Maska was put on sale for airsofters last year the price was prohibitive and, worse, the quality of the shield was so poor that the manufacturers finally removed it all together. As the shield is the most distinctive part of the Maska - and most practical for CQB airsoft - I ruled out it's purchase and decided to have another go at making my own fake.

This time I managed to find a more reasonable starting point for the helmet as I came across a very reasonably priced surplus British police ARGUS riot helmet - just £19 on eBay! Now, the reason this is a good basis for the project is that the general shape isn't as bulbous as the motorcycle helmet and it is already fitted with a protective face shield.

Left: The real Maska 1Sch1 - the earlier and most recognizable version of the Russian bullet-proof helmet used by Spetsnaz forces. As you can see, the face shield is the most distinctive feature of this helmet and will be the focus of my 'replica'.

The Argus's face shield in particular is the key to this mod, as it will make the imitation of the distinctive MASKA bullet-proof shield easier to achieve. In fact, with a realistically replica of the MASKA's shield on the front of the helmet I will be well on the way to having an acceptable fake Russian military helmet.

Today I am examining my newly delivered Argus helmet, deciding how I should proceed and I am also doing some research into the real dimensions of the real Maska's face shied so I can replicate a facsimile.

Above: My Argus riot helmet - a bit scratched up but perfect for my purpose. Importantly this helmet comes with it's own clear plastic face shield - the mechanism for which I will be using to hang the MASKA style solid face shield on.

The condition of the used Argus isn't too bad - mainly surface scratches - and it fits nicely, but it is a bit uncomfortable so will need some additional padding, and I will have to remove the rear neck protection. As for the Maska shield dimensions I struck gold at the Red Alliance Forum (where else) as someone else is undertaking a similar project.

Above: Schematic for the MASKA-1Sch face shield. Hopefully by faithfully recreating this component of the Maska my fake-Maska will pass for the real thing...At a distance at least! Source: Red Alliance Forum

In the next part of this build project I will be fitting a mock-up template of the shield to the Argus in order to figure out the best way to join the final shield (which will be constructed of sheet aluminum). I will also fitting the additional foam padding needed to make the helmet comfortable in use.

Well, this recession may have had negative consequences on the amount I can spend on airsoft projects but I can still shell out for the odd budget item. This month I bought a few more pieces of kit to add to my Flecktarn (faux-German Army) loudout collection and I think I can say I managed to aquire some real bargains...

There are several self-heating self-contained meal systems available and they are very useful for the camper, hiker and, of course, the airsofter.

The smaller airsoft fields have a rather sad reputation for thier universal lack of facilities, and in particular for being bereft of a proper 'mess tent'. So I have tested out a couple of self-heating meals as a moral boosting alternative to the usual cold lunchbox or sandwich pack.

This video is a demonstration of how to use these two meal packs - the HotPack and HotCan self-heating systems.

I tried out the Hotcan pack when I went to 'First & Only' Matlock, and I'm very glad I did. For although summer seems an odd time to be thinking about hot lunches the very unseasonable rain storm we endured on that day meant I was very pleased with my piping hot 'All day breakfast' (there were some envious looks for some of the other players).

One thing I do want to emphasise is that these packs do get very hot! Please be aware of this and show due caution - remember that even after the allotted time that is given for these meals to cook the heating system keeps on going for some time. So also be careful how you dispose of the pack afterwards.

Finally, there are other similar products to the two I demonstrated in my video, including one done by Crosse & Blackwell, but I found these harder to get hold of.

Please let me know if you try any of the other makes of recipes - it would be nice to build up some knowledge of which are the more tasty flavours!

Useful links:

> Hotcan
> HotPack
> HotBox
> Crosse & Blackwell at mlaltd.co.uk store

The AMD-65 is a Hungarian AK modification instantly recognizable for it's 'bare-bones' layout, with wire stock and stamped metal fore-grip structure. This industrial design is as stark and utilitarian as a Soviet tower block, and the last vestiges of 'bourgeois' comforts have been stripped away lest the red warrior be distracted by such luxurious appendages as wood stocks!

However, in recent years the AMD-65 has gained a hard core reputation as THE tactical Kalashnikov when the infamous Blackwater company armed some of it's contractors with it in such hot spots as Iraq and Afghanistan. This was something of a Cinderella moment as what was largely ignored as an aberration started to be looked upon with new eyes and airsoft manufacturer LCT picked up on the machismo that the AMD-65 exuded and have produced an AEG replica.

Armie's Airsoft has a review on the LCT AMD-65, where the AEG was given a laudable 8 out of 10 (see links).

My personal view is that this AK variant probably steps across the line in terms of acceptable 'fugliness', even for the average Kalashnikov fan. It does have a certain intimidating presence about it but I much prefer the more Bohemian charm of the Romanian AIMS (a lovely steel Kalash replica of which is due for release over the next month or so).

That said, it does get past that 'oh no, not another AK' fatigue that is creeping in on some airsoft forums!

Estimated price of LCT AMD-65 - expect to pay around £340 in the UK (if comparable LCT's at Fire SUpport are anything to go by).

Useful links:

> Armie's Airsoft review of the LCT AMD-65
> Official LCT Airsoft web site

Real steel information:
> AMD 65 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> AK47.net entry for AMD-65

New Kalash steel RK-06S (AK-74). Source: Gunner Airsoft Hong Kong

It's nice to see Dboy/Kalash starting to slowly replace earlier pot metal models with steel ones, and the demand is certainly out there. But it doesn't seem too long ago when I bought my Kalash AK74 (pot metal), which puts me in a bit of a quandary about upgrading to the steel version...

I always said that I wouldn't go mad and have a huge number of AEGs, but that I would slowly and continually upgrade the restricted collection I did have. I started my collection buying mainly cheapsoft plastic or pot metal models...And now there is the opportunity to go steel. But is it worth it?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with my pot metal AKs - they have proven strong and reliable. However, the one steel Kalash I have just bought - AK105 (RK-08) - has actually shown a couple of the negative aspects of steel - weight and rust.

Beautiful cosmetic enhancements - but at what cost? Source: Gunner Airsoft (Hong Kong)So, I am now thinking, maybe I should skip the small leap between budget pot metal and budget steel and instead wait and save a bit longer and upgrade my collection to one of the premier makes instead (LCT, Inokatsu, VFC or RS). The exception to this train of thought - or alternative route - is what I'm doing with my pot metal RK-01, slowly upgrade it's parts with steel RK-12 components a piece at a time.

In the meantime, instead of worrying about external cosmetic changes I am turning my attention to upgrading some of the internal components to get the most our of the AEGs I already own.

The one exception to this will be Kalash's forthcoming RK-10 - it's new steel AKMS replica. I don't own an AKMS at all, so this would be a excellent way to get one...

And, in the end, this is perhaps the lesson here - if you already own a good, reliable pot metal AEG it may not be worth spending the additional money for a small improvement. On the other hand, if you haven't already got a particular model represented by these new steel versions then Kalash's recent steel releases represent excellent value for money.

> Kalash RK-06S at Gunner Airsoft
> My pot-to-steel RK-01-to-RK-12 upgrade project