British mk6 helmet reproduction

[ronin677]

At Skirmish I plan to stick with what I've known all my adult life and stay with a standard British army loadout. The only thing that I really don't want to lug about is my helmet.

 

With this in mind I plan this weekend to take a mold of it and produce a fibreglass copy of the thing. It probably won't look pretty but once I've transferred the straps and cover I'm hoping the shape will look ok.

 

A little bit of padding front and back and jobs a good 'un

 

I'll let you all know how it goes

 

watch this space

[ronin677]

Initial casting underway. I'm only using 'softcast' surgical casting as I'm not too concerned about capturing detail. All I need is the shape as it will be covered with a mtp cover and scrim.

 

I have got a spare set of straps from an old Mk6 also

 

woo hoo, hopfully cast it in fibreglass this weekend

 

[alwaysontheoffensive]

i wear an iraq issue mk6 with the mtp cover and it's bearable.. bit of a sweat bucket, but i'm aspiring to go to sandhurst after university so guess it's good practice for when they give me a shiny new mk 7

[ronin677]

wow Sandhurst. Good luck buddy. I take my hat off to you for that one, I only ever got to Corporal.

 

Let us all know how you get on, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you

[alwaysontheoffensive]

thanks, been an ambition for a while, hoping to get stuck in with the officer training core alongside my degree and go straight into the rmc at the other end, hopefully i've got what they want for an officer of the the best army in the world!

[ronin677]

[ronin677]

all ready for glassing today

 

Its not going to look pretty but the shape is there and once I have a cover on it no one will be able to tell the difference (except me because it will be about a quarter of the weight

 

[ronin677]

first layer of glass in place. OMG in this heat the resin is going off in minutes

 

I'll just let this go off and then apply the second layer

 

[cavninja]

wow! I really do admire your patience in knocking this up in the first place! Top job! Sorry to chip this in when you've done all the work, but I've only just joined the forum, the Mk6s Mk6A and the Mk7 are, as you know all ballistic helmets, and that mean they have some weight, but the old style para helmet (not the old old Steel one!) is virtually identical to a Mk6 and weighs next to nothing! Great for the heat of the Afghan summer! Not so great when real bullets start flying as they aren't ballistic! I'm sure you could pick one up on e-bay or somewhere? Falling that, start your own reproduction business! Good look! Can't wait to see it finished!

[ronin677]

First pull. Lightweight and reasonably strong

 

[ronin677]

And a comparison between my service MK6 and the fibreglass copy. No chin strap attached yet but will do that this afternoon

 

 

[Undieing_Lust]

Really good job! If you didnt say which was fake and which was real, I would have not been able to tell.

[ronin677]

Really good job! If you didnt say which was fake and which was real, I would have not been able to tell.

Wow thank you so much

[ronin677]

taa dah all done. Just waiting now for my MTP cover and then I can add a little scrim (proper current look)

 

[team flex]

very nice, I like it. In total how long did it take to make?

[ronin677]

very nice, I like it. In total how long did it take to make?

may be 4 hours

[ronin677]

just done a weight comparison. My Kevlar mk6 weighs 1.5kg, my fibreglass copy only weighs 300g

[remus]

ya know thats such a good job i may well do the same...

[ronin677]

ya know thats such a good job i may well do the same...

Cost me about £8 in resin and fibreglass matting from halfords.

[cavninja]

Very Impressive!

Improvise, adapt, overcome!

Lovin' it!

[ronin677]

Padding added (with obligatory field dressing padding haha) and hopefully the mtp cover will arrive tomorrow.

 

[ronin677]

All done

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

That's genius, might look into doing it with my Mk7

[ronin677]

That's genius, might look into doing it with my Mk7

Cheers Airsoft-Ed here it is with my loadout. I've only really ever known this so I'm sticking with it

 

[Liam1992]

Thats pretty damn impressive. Very impressive actually. How strong is it?