Fake Maska helmet idea.

[basaliskian]

I want to make a Soviet loadout, sought of 70/80's period, but not Afghanistan (don't like deserty camo). I was thinking of a cross between Spetzanz and regular infantry, basically use the coolest stuff from both, but definatly the Maska helmet. I found this guy http://www.milgeek.co.uk/airsoftkit/...et-part-1.html making a a fake, and wondered if any of you think it would look good enough, or just look crap. And any advice about what look good with it would also be greatly appreciated, because I've got an SRC RPK (my first gun :D ), so quite like the idea of a heavy duty look.

Bas.

[fallout3021]

Was going to do same so I got a old police riot lid and sprayed it

So far not alterd the visor my plan it to use mesh glasses so I can flip the visor up when not clearing Rooms and drop it down when clearing

[Lardassmonkey]

Re: Fake Maska helmet idea.

There is no such thing as Soviet deserty camo. Standard issue uniforms of the for nearly all branches in that era were plain khaki and that was what was used in both Europe and Afghanistan. Some branches like KGB border guards, VDV and later Naval infantry were issued camouflage uniforms in the 80s but they tend to be pretty expensive.

The Maska helmet was only introduced in the 90s so you'd either have to pick a later era or a different helmet. Non of this type of helmet was used in the 70s, however KGB spetsnaz units Alfa and Vympel started using Sphera 81s & Swiss TIG helmets in the 80s, both of which look quite different to the Maska. Regular army units have never used such helmets, only KGB/FSB and MVD.

As for replicating a helmet on the cheap then yes its easy enough to do. The key is to pick one that is easiest to copy and I'd say either a Maska or Zsh-1 are the best choices. I've made one myself; essentially a maska, although it is something of a maska/zsh hybrid, using an old open face motorbike helmet. The shape is much closer than a riot helmet, I didn't have to remove/hide stuff like the neck cover & vent holes, just add a couple of features and best of all it cost bugger all. It lacks the shield or a way to mount one but then that wasn't always worn and and you can add some dummy mount to make it look right. I am in the process of adding a shield to mine but it is much more rough and ready as its going to be used for my Metro 2033 kit. If you don't want to add all the features though you can always use a cover on the helmet as they're quite common. Making one from a sandbag is the cheapest way to do it.

If you want an 80s impression with a TIG helmet then I'd recommend copying Alfa when they operated on the border of Afghanistan with the Border Guards. Since you have an RPK this photo below might be a good one to copy:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...onton/afg4.jpg

TIG Helmet & cover
M69 uniform
Some basic webbing/Chicom (no need for everythign he is carrying)
RPK-74

That would be pretty typical of how they looked whereever they operated. There are some photos of Alfa & Vympel operating within their counter terrorist role in this period but replicating that would be difficult and expensive to do since the kit is much more specialised.

If you want to use a Maska instead pick something from the 90s or 00s. There is plenty to choose from, just not anything from the army.