Those of you who have Rhodie Painted your pews...

[Austeyr]

What paint brand and colour did you use? Struggling to find anything for a reasonable price that also looks the part. Bonus points if you can include pics of how the paint looked on the rifle 

 

And for the sake of clarification, I mean the baby shit and blue - Not Rhodie brushstroke pattern

[Enid_Puceflange]

There’s a few vids on YT showing it, I can’t remember if this guy gives the real colours 

(not got time to watch it again just now)

 

 

[Austeyr]

9 minutes ago, Enid_Puceflange said:

There’s a few vids on YT showing it, I can’t remember if this guy gives the real colours 

(not got time to watch it again just now)

 

 

 

Yeah, he uses Arizona Response System's paint, as does every other youtube video. I can't buy paint from America and have it shipped to the UK. Hence why I figured I'd ask here as it's a UK forum and hopefully some UK people have done it using UK paint 😂

[Austeyr]

Ended up making my own "recipe" 

 

It's not perfect, the blue needs to be a bit brighter but I'm happy with the baby shit colour at least

 

I can't attach an image, for some reason. Guessing the forum is still being buggy but I used:

 

Arteza craft acrylic colors premium Olive Green, Dijon, Dark Teal and Charcoal black

 

And essentially eyeballed the colours until they matched the images shown on ARS's website.

Edited Thursday at 16:35 by Austeyr

[EvilMonkee]

Never understood the fascination with the Rhodesian Armed Forces, afterall they did represent a racist apartheid state.

[Austeyr]

27 minutes ago, EvilMonkee said:

Never understood the fascination with the Rhodesian Armed Forces, afterall they did represent a racist apartheid state.

I like painted guns, I like FALs, can’t argue the most iconic paint job on a FAL is the Rhodie paint. I can’t speak for anybody else but that’s my reasoning for doing it lol

[Cannonfodder]

15 hours ago, EvilMonkee said:

Never understood the fascination with the Rhodesian Armed Forces, afterall they did represent a racist apartheid state.

You could say the same about people wearing ww2 German kit. Personally I'm not too fussed what someone wears to a skirmish. If they start spouting hateful propaganda then I have a problem 

[Austeyr]

2 minutes ago, Cannonfodder said:

You could say the same about people wearing ww2 German kit. Personally I'm not too fussed what someone wears to a skirmish. If they start spouting hateful propaganda then I have a problem 

I have the same conversation with a lot of online redditors regarding RUSFOR kit. People jump on the Airsofters for wearing certain kit, like wearing EMR for example means you’re actively supporting what’s going on in Ukraine.
 

Adding politics to a certain kit/camouflage is less than ideal. I used to wear a Heer kit when me and my friend ran as a 2 Man MG-42 team but we definitely don’t agree with what happened during the 40’s. Same as how I tend to wear an EMR uniform (No ribbons etc), it doesn’t automatically make me support Putin and the invasion of Ukraine 😂

[Cannonfodder]

The thing is you can take pretty much any military and find something nasty that they've done. People need to stop looking for offence where there isn't any

[Tackle]

Next you'll be telling me its too soon to wear my new Sudanese rmf loadout ?

😏

[Austeyr]

3 minutes ago, Cannonfodder said:

The thing is you can take pretty much any military and find something nasty that they've done. People need to stop looking for offence where there isn't any

Aye. That was a point I bought up a little while ago, a guy was talking about the “slaughter of civilians by Russians” on the Airsoft subreddit because a dude posted a pic and he was in an EMR get up. They used the point that it was “wrong to glorify invaders causing war”, I mentioned how many people use GWOT kits and never get hated on. War is bad (Obviously) but it’s Airsoft. Most of us wear kit because it looks cool, not because of what it represents if that makes sense 

 

That being said, I wouldn’t mind some short shorts for the summer 🤣

[Cannonfodder]

That's one of the reasons I avoid cesspits like reddit 

[DerDer]

16 hours ago, EvilMonkee said:

Never understood the fascination with the Rhodesian Armed Forces, afterall they did represent a racist apartheid state.

Never saw the appeal of the obsession with NVA (both German and  North Vietnamese flavours).  They were Communist dictatorship states. 

I'm only extracting the urine. Have had Strichtarn and Brushstroke kit in the past.

 

Also +1 on avoiding Reddit for mental well being. 

[EvilMonkee]

On 07/11/2025 at 12:46, DerDer said:

Never saw the appeal of the obsession with NVA (both German and  North Vietnamese flavours).  They were Communist dictatorship states. 

I'm only extracting the urine. Have had Strichtarn and Brushstroke kit in the past.

 

Also +1 on avoiding Reddit for mental well being. 

Maybe so, but the NVA never went to war with anyone thankfully.

 

I shy away from all WW2 German kit and equally stopped wearing Russian camo as well, which is a shame as I like it

On 07/11/2025 at 11:13, Cannonfodder said:

You could say the same about people wearing ww2 German kit. Personally I'm not too fussed what someone wears to a skirmish. If they start spouting hateful propaganda then I have a problem 

I do say the same about WW2 German, people that go to those events seem to have a bit of a hard on for SS kit.

[Tommikka]

Thanks to drafting a post across a few hours between serving people at an event I managed to somehow post on a totally different thread, and now at McDs I can repost ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the topic of ‘glorification’, we play a game, for many that includes dressing up.

The underlying motivation of the majority will be unknown, in some cases it can be a little clearer.

 

There is a degree of time healing, such as in the re-enactment world knights, Cavaliers, Roundheads etc are far away from memory, WW1 is pretty much out of direct memory but there can be ‘family memory’, WW2 can get close to the bone when someone appears far too interested in Hugo Boss

 

Rhodesia etc is nearer in memory than the American Civil war, but they have parallels (and in parts of the US in recent years their may be civil war re-emergence as a closely hinting message)

 

Overall I could not give a toss about someone’s political motivations (it may not endear me to them)

Generally I like the underdog, so that often directs me towards the baddies for at least the latter half of the last century and this century so far.

 

I am a major fan of wooden accessories, sadly my SLR is in black, but my AKs are wooden.  They have all given me great pleasure, but I will not take out my AKs again for personal reasons which I will touch on below.

 

As a side note, the OSS ‘advisors’ to the Viet Minh couldn’t roll off the Declaration of Independence straight off their lips, which could have changed a future direction.  Uncle Ho as an intellectual in an occupied country of the French empire studied Marxism and formed communist parties - just like any of the ‘oppressed’.  His Declaration of Independences version of “all men are created equal” was intended

to have a US flavour, but his “American friends” couldn’t help him with that, and as time changed after WW2 the US changed their “anti colonial” point of view to the fear of the communist domino effect

Their fears handed Vietnam (as well as much of South East Asia) towards China and therefore Russia 

 

As I live in Salisbury, and around a couple of corners from Christie Miller Drive, I’m clearly no fan of Putin

To make things more personal Dawn as my ex PAs sister

 

That kills anything Russian related to me, and I do wince when I see someone putting Russian kit into the classifieds, but that’s my personal issue

 

As another aside, in a different forum there were known Russian trolls operating, all currently on bans - their presence has been tolerated to enable disinformation to be countered, with regular suspensions for line crossing. With their knowledge on my circumstances they have pushed my buttons more than once and been subject to extreme breaches of forum rules for which I have not been penalised for.  I’ve clearly been given a lot of leeway on that subject 

 

[Tommikka]

On 07/11/2025 at 11:34, Austeyr said:

….I mentioned how many people use GWOT kits and never get hated on.

I forgot this among my long ramble

 

The GWOT - Global War On Terror was also previously referred to as TWOT - The War On Terror, which was clearly a crappy acronym, but it was a quick change from The War Against Terror, which I found to make a nice acronym, but apparantly some Brit had a quiet word with the US government 

[Cannonfodder]

34 minutes ago, EvilMonkee said:

I do say the same about WW2 German, people that go to those events seem to have a bit of a hard on for SS kit.

I guess I must be lucky that I've met some players wearing ww2 axis loadouts who just have an interest in history. Unfortunately I've also bumped into plenty of wehraboos too, fortunately they can easily be identified when they open their mouths.

 

Imo the other potential issue is that we could end up whitewashing or forgetting history. A couple of years ago I was at a site where a player was wearing heer kit which some kid called a Wolfenstein loadout.

 

11 minutes ago, Tommikka said:

but it was a quick change from The War Against Terror, which I found to make a nice acronym, but apparantly some Brit had a quiet word with the US government 

Spoilsport.

Edited 10 hours ago by Cannonfodder

[Lyndication]

I mean one kid not recognising a Nazi outfit on sight isn't whitewashing tbf. Most people just have a rough vibe but couldn't tell you how to identify Pea Dot.

 

I think living history/reenactment is one thing and Airsoft is another. If we're this serious about avoiding pop culture conflation and accurately representing a horrific and barbaric period of history, maybe the right place for it isn't with some guy in a pirate outfit against a team of people in hoodies with scuba tank pistols innit.

 

It's like asking for an Adolf Hitler skin in Fortnite otherwise kids might forget about him.

[Austeyr]

Still can't post images but here is my general thoughts summed up in the form of a meme:

 

https://ibb.co/1GD1WqN9

[Cannonfodder]

23 minutes ago, Lyndication said:

I mean one kid not recognising a Nazi outfit on sight isn't whitewashing tbf. Most people just have a rough vibe but couldn't tell you how to identify Pea Dot.

 Thinking about it whitewashing probably isn't the right word, maybe forget would be better. The loadout in question was nowhere near reenactment levels of stitch counting but I would think the OG tunic and coal scuttle helmet with spread eagle printed on the side would clearly be WW2 German to anyone who's picked up a history book or seen a war film would be able to tell what it's supposed to be.

[Colin Allen]

On 06/11/2025 at 20:03, EvilMonkee said:

Never understood the fascination with the Rhodesian Armed Forces, afterall they did represent a racist apartheid state.

That is an immense simplification of a far more nuanced and complex situation.  The policy of gradually increasing representation of non-whites in line with educational and economic development would probably have resulted in an eventual transition to majority rule as opposition to the policy decreased, with a much better outcome for everyone than what actually transpired in both Zimbabwe and the majority of other sub-Saharan African nations. The utter disaster that was and is Zimbabwe could have been avoided.  Unfortunately, the  rush to hand over power In former African colonies has been anything but a success.

Before anyone calls me a racist or a fascist or anything similar, I am moderately left wing and very definitely not racist.  
 

[ButcherBill]

1 hour ago, Tommikka said:

I am a major fan of wooden accessories, sadly my SLR is in black, but my AKs are wooden.  They have all given me great pleasure, but I will not take out my AKs again for personal reasons which I will touch on below.

Very eloquent, I'm almost embarassed to admit that the though of you liking wood made me chuckle... I'll grow up eventually.

Edited 9 hours ago by ButcherBill

[Colin Allen]

8 minutes ago, Cannonfodder said:

 Thinking about it whitewashing probably isn't the right word, maybe forget would be better. The loadout in question was nowhere near reenactment levels of stitch counting but I would think the OG tunic and coal scuttle helmet with spread eagle printed on the side would clearly be WW2 German to anyone who's picked up a history book or seen a war film would be able to tell what it's supposed to be.

Yes, you would think that the swastikas would be something of a giveaway.

[Colin Allen]

1 hour ago, Lyndication said:

I mean one kid not recognising a Nazi outfit on sight isn't whitewashing tbf. Most people just have a rough vibe but couldn't tell you how to identify Pea Dot.

 

I think living history/reenactment is one thing and Airsoft is another. If we're this serious about avoiding pop culture conflation and accurately representing a horrific and barbaric period of history, maybe the right place for it isn't with some guy in a pirate outfit against a team of people in hoodies with scuba tank pistols innit.

 

It's like asking for an Adolf Hitler skin in Fortnite otherwise kids might forget about him.

At one site where I used to marshal, a chap who became somewhat notorious in parts of the airsoft community started attending in full Waffen SS combat gear with the eagle and swastika badge and lightning rune collar tabs, accompanied by his young half-Japanese son in full HJ gear with a swastika armband.  We persuaded the site owner to make them cover up or remove the Nazi emblems.  After his first appearance, a bit of research revealed that he wasn't just playing at being a Nazi.  He finally got the message that he wasn't wanted  and never came back.  As this was many years ago now, I am content to say that his lunch always had added ingredients.

Edited 9 hours ago by Colin Allen

[Tommikka]

3 hours ago, ButcherBill said:

Very eloquent, I'm almost embarassed to admit that the though of you liking wood made me chuckle... I'll grow up eventually.

Not only do I like wood, I of course have got wood.  Not to hand at the moment though

 

57 years and still pending getting around to growing up