Cosplay angles

[John Bitmeas]

Hi all,

I have acquired a fabulous 1.7 acre site in Bucks that I’m initially using for photography and videos but I’m seriously considering an airsoft event on it once a month, it will have a distinct dystopian / horror / fantasy vibe.

the site had been derelict for over ten years, over the last 8 months I’ve been clearing, tidying and beginning creating sets within it.

my background is fabrication and post apocalyptic festivals.

 

So I am in need of a rif licence I believe to be in a position to even get started with the photography.

How do I go about this? It seems wildly complicated.  

[Galvatron]

Welcome!

 

To avoid confusion, UKARA is one of several defences for a retailer to sell you a RIF, not a licence. You don't need a licence to own or purchase an airsoft gun.

 

Liability insurance and a risk assessment should be prioritised before becoming a UKARA member site as a suitable liability insurance policy is required when you apply to become a UKARA member site.

 

If you wish to purchase RIFs before getting your site fully set up, you can ask at an airsoft site that is registered with UKARA for an application form. You need to play 3 games with a minimum of 56 days between your first and third games where the site owner/director/host/marshal vouches for you and signs the form. After your third game is signed off, the site will submit your application to UKARA and shortly after that, you receive an email confirming your membership, number and expiry date (about 12 months after you are confirmed as a UKARA member).

 

It's probably worth having a butcher's at the UKARA site. http://ukara.org.uk/

 

Good luck with your site!

[Tommikka]

There’s no such thing as a RIF licence.

There are restrictions on the sale, manufacture, import of RIFs under the VCRA with defences:

 

Cosplay is not a defence (despite claims by a certain retailer)

’Professional cosplay’ (not dressing up and paying to get into a comicon) can be ‘theatrical’ with the public appearances and appropriate liability insurance etc

 

Stills photography is not a defence - but film is (not just YouTube) The VCRA references the copyright act

 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/5B

 

 

For your primary requirement of photography there may be elements of a defence and you can contact retailers on that basis.

But you don’t have to own the props to take photos, (of course if you own the props for the photography you want then you can select your models rather than relying on whoever has their own props).  You can still ask out for RIF owners to loan props - perhaps take some photos of them as well as the main photo shoot or see if who offers fits into your planned photos 

 

 

To become a venue you don’t need your own RIFs if you are running an event for existing players with their own equipment.

You do need to not go in blind and involve experienced organsiers/marshalls/players

 

If you’re a venue with the appropriate safety set up and liability insurance then you would meet the criteria with the purpose being to run airsoft skirmishing, therefore wouldn’t sign up to the UKARA as a player but as a venue

Contact the UKARA and other sites for advice and wholesale/major retailers regarding buying RIFs as a site

[John Bitmeas]

Thank you both so much, you’ve been incredibly insightful.

currently I have no airsoft guns but I do have a lot of Nerf guns that were painted/distressed to give a more realistic vibe, ranging from sci-fi through to straightforward looking pieces, I would like to run a skirmish here in the future but that won’t involve me supplying guns etc

 

I’ve included a few images for reference 

[Cannonfodder]

Welcome. The posts above have covered the buying rifs so I won't add anything more to that.

 

Setting up a site can be a long and complicated process, especially for someone new to the game. Personally I'd contact local sites to see if they're interested in using the site. That way someone else gets the hassle of dealing with airsofters (making sure everyone knows what's going on and are in the right place can be like herding cats sometimes). Their knowledge and experience means they'll also be able to see and head off any potential issues before they become a problem.

 

Oh, and nice job with the props

[Colin Allen]

This looks great and I wish you every success.  However, unless you are going to run it as a CQB site or for heavily themed games where shooting is only a minor part of the experience, 1.7 acres is really small; it is approximately 83m x 83m.

[Rogerborg]

@Cannonfodder has nailed it - inviting experience in is an efficient way to make use of it.  You'll get honest opinions about the potential of the site, particularly the amount of cover and lines of sight.

 

You can have fun with that area, but it'll need a lot of build work to ensure that people can actually move around without being shot as soon as they take a step - most airsoft guns will shoot the whole length of that site.

 

It'd be an interesting experiment to run it as a themed zombie / horror / LARP experience where you supply low range, low powered, low ammo / rate of fire - and cheap! - springer shotguns and pistols, particularly spring revolvers which are barely above Nerf power levels (but which will still need eye protection).  It's actually easier to buy those in day-glo colours from various BBgunz4u style retailers, which doesn't need any sort of defence, then you can paint them any way you like.

 

Getting realistic imitations isn't really a problem either. If you get yourself public liability insurance for the site to run airsoft events there - and you should, that's key - then I don't see retailers having a problem selling to you on that basis.  They're in the business of selling airsoft guns, they just want to be able to tick a due diligence box.  If you want to get your hands on a few RIFs to start doing photographic sets there, I'd suggest contacting retailers and just asking them what evidence they'd want to see.  You only need one to say yes.