Hibernator

I am quite interested in the APE - I love the split gearbox design. But a Shot Show review I saw said the retail price was going to be around $500. Hopefully that's wrong, because let's face it that would make them £499.99 over here Far too expensive when the entry level CXP M4 designs are half that price!

The ICS Sportlines have the cheaper nastier ICS motors in, unless they've changed recently. The Prolines have the much better Turbo 3000, but still noisy! The ZCI looks like a good bet if the reviews are good. I have an SHS in one of my ICS M4s - can't remember which motor it is, but the ROF is insane compared to the stock ICS one. To be honest, the ZCI is only £12. Well worth a try. If it doesn't work out, stick it in your bits box as a spare part

It's an ICS - the motors are screechy by nature! The spilt gearbox doesn't help the noise either I often refer to mine as "the sewing machine"! A new motor and tips above will do it wonders.

No teeth pointing up Just put it in semi and pull the trigger until they spin into that position. If the teeth are pointing up, you can't close the receiver unless you force it - so if it doesn't close easily check where the teeth are.

Definitely not as easy as it looks on Youtube. I had a go over the summer on half a dozen parts and only managed to get one dip that looked OK. The rest didn't adhere properly or had cracks/bubbles. It's very dependent on the undercoat, soak times, activator spray and temperature etc.. but I'm sure you already know that! Unfortunately I've got no indoor space to do it, (the activator is nasty stuff!) so have to do mine outside. Which means in this weather I'll probably not be trying again until spring! Have fun - look forward to seeing more pics

Nope - lazy mode! It proved a little too tricky to get out the fake selector on my ICS receiver to get at the screw - some impressive glue on there. Decided just to tape round the switch and mask off the fake bit.

Agreed. But if you're trying to get a black receiver to look like a FDE finished one instead, that little black mark is the most annoying thing in the world Plenty of good guides on Youtube for a "L33T Oper8tor" look, or it's an excuse to watch Shooter again. Here's an example:

No primer as suggested. Make sure the gun is clean and grease free - Paint Preparation Wipes from Halfords are good to give it a clean with. Krylon is good, but you usually get stung on postage if ordering online - pressurized containers have to be sent by courier. Halfords do an ultra flat Camo range - limited colours: Black, Brown, Green and Khaki - but they are pretty good for the price A few thin coats will give a better finish than one thick coat. The thicker you spray, the more chance there is of the paint running.

Cheers all. Some good suggestions there. I think I'll check out the Begadi ones first - AH is near me to pop in to have a look

Ooh! Nice indeed. Thanks. Will check those out!

Can anyone recommend any decent open top MP5 pouches? I run open top M4 pouches for CQB (the type with the retaining elastic) and am looking for similar for my new MP5. I've seen a few MP7 pouches, but do MP5 mags fit them? What about pistol tacos? Can they securely fit MP5 mags? Cheers.

Some tissue stuffed (gently) into the flash hider and magwell will be all you really need. That stops paint getting down the barrel and into the hop. Maybe some tape as suggested round sight posts and trigger etc if you don't want those sprayed. Don't forget to move the selector switch after a couple of coats or you'll end up with a nice black outline everytime you change fire mode

Wow - love the Post Apocalyptic one! Now I have a something to try on my cheapo CYMA MP5 PDW

The pressure pad is nice and chunky, so you should be OK. It feels like there is a row of microswitches inside it, so giving it a squeeze anywhere along it's length works fine. I just prefer not to use them - I like clicking the tail button on with my thumb so I'm not accidentally lighting my self up if I squeeze the foregrip too hard!

I have that exact torch. I've bolted it to the side of one of my M4s for you to have a look. It needs to be mounted so that the head of the torch overhangs the RIS - the supplied mount is a little to low to hold it far enough away from the rail. I also have a perspex disk taped to the front of mine to protect it

Does anyone on here know much about the Midlands Boot Fair being held at The Gaol in November? I am thinking of booking a pitch to shift some of my unused kit, but having just done the F&O one was bit disappointed with the turnout (great venue and facilities, but not many people there buying) so factoring in fuel costs etc it was a bit of a wasted day Is it worth doing? It's actually closer to me than the last one I did. I understand it's not the first time they've run it, so how well attended was the last one? Cheers.

Yeah - looks like a Noveske barrel nut. It should just unscrew and then you can replace it with another. It might be glued on to hold it in place, which might explain why it won't move easily!

2 month time limit? If you're askiing about UKARA registration, you have to play 3 games in no less than 2 months - in other words, the 3 games need to be MORE than 2 months apart. There's a good FAQ here: http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/1254-popular-ukara-questions/ So as long as your 3rd game is after November 28th, you are fine.

Get yourself a Crag Hoppers micro fleece - usually only cost around a tenner and come in all sorts of taticool colours - browns, olive, grey etc.. Look a bit PMCish under a plate carrier and light enough to keep you warm, but easily removable if you heat up a bit

Yeah - all you need is a basic PMR 446. You can get them fairly cheap, and they are small and light so it's not like you're lugging too much extra kit around. I always carry a radio, chances are there will be others there using them. I'd avoid Cobra radios - good functions and price, but fussy on headsets! You'll need at least an earpice so you don't suddenly give your position away with loud radio chat coming in Look at Motorola radios

It wouldn't have been a waste of time if it had been as advertised. I'm sure the organisers had every intention to make it a huge success - an Expo to me is manufacturers (TM, ICS, AGM), retailers, related industries (optics, fllashlights, Gucci gear!) all under one roof. Showcasing new products etc.. I was kind of hoping for a "Shot Show" style affair but catering to airsoft. If it was that, it would have been worth the admission and then some. I can't help but feel that the retailers pulled out knowing it wasn't going to be that well attended. There are 7000 odd likes on the Facebook page, it would be interesting to see what the door count was. It's nothing to do with an apathetic community - look how many people drive for a day and camp all weekend for a decent weekender - if the value is there, people will go. I think even the Grange Airsoft Arms Fair had more stands than 9! Plus the related stuff like IPSC, CQB training, car boot etc.. always made it a more worthwhile trip. Shame they decided against it this year

Glad I didn't bother in that case. Would have been an hour or so drive for me. To be honest, it's not that much further to the actual JD shop in Cannock for me - which is very well set up! At least it doesn't cost a tenner to get in

I was all for it and bought the ticket online ages ago. I'm just going to write that off - it was only a tenner - and save the diesel money for something else! The shipping on an FNX-45??? ;-)

Hmm - looking at the Facebook page it seems that it's really only a handful of retailers going now. As an Expo I would have expected there to be maunfacturers etc represented and new/prototype products on display - when the original email ads went out they had 14 stands booked and were expecting more. Now it looks like 10 retailers. So each stand is going to be over 2000sq ft