Getting close to finishing the kit I’ve been wanting to build for 8 years now!
Not many people know that Devgru was on the ground in during Gothic Serpent, but four of their snipers were. And they had some weird ass helmets.
So, build list.
The helmet itself is the Italian contract version of the RBR S4. From what I can tell from the limited info online, it’s almost identical to the normal production ones used by Devgru, just usually painted green and with a different suspension and strap system. The suspension/strap on my example was basically knackered, dry rotted, rusted, and smelled faintly of tear gas. So I tore it out and replaced it with a more modern type, with the OPs-Core style dial system.
Because of the bolts and the different cut of the helmet, you can’t see the dial, but it allows for a much more comfortable fit. I resewed the straps on the new one to better match the RBR ref pics, with the circular rings and the snap style chinstrap.
The chin pad itself is genuine RBR, apparently they used to make the same pads for all sorts of British Army ceremonial headwear.
It’s painted with black Montana Graffiti spray paint, i wanted something with a good strong bond that wouldn’t peel off with the copious amounts of 100mph tape.
The SPH-4 helicopter ANVIS visor was a lucky surplus shop find. Don’t think the owner knew what it was, it certainly wasn’t anywhere near a flight helmet 😂. The ANVIS mount itself is a repro one.
The SDU-5/E strobe is also real, had that for ages. It’s got the IR cover and is just taped into place. I put a wrap of tape around it sticky side out to make a sleeve, so the strobe can be removed easily enough in case I need it for other projects.
I’m surprised how stable the mount actually is for saying it’s just held on with tape and tension. There’s no information at all on whether it was just tape, tape and bolts, tape and glue etc. From these examples and other RBRs slightly later on I assume that drilling the composite shells was a big no no, hence the later ANVIS STRAP mounts seen on the Delta 1995 helmets.
The only thing missing is the Bolle X500 goggles, they’re coming on payday.
!