Superstore Kit Review - I don't always wear green!

 I had the pleasure of returning to 130FPS indoor games on 2nd October with Games of Foam Superstore event at Echelon Airsoft in Gravesend. Despite a rainy evening and going around the block twice, I found the venue in the end: a deserted old Debenhams department store. With COVID killing off a whole load of British High Street stores, there's a lot of old units that aren't getting any use. The guys at Echelon took the initiative and snapped up the lease on this unit and the result is a 3 floor venue across the shop floor, the warehouse and the office sector. It really is a venue like no other. I'll see about doing a walk through/commentary video on it with my GoPro footage at some point but for now let's talk gear.

With the day job being full on at the moment, I didn't have much time to fully interogate my equipment for the event. Most of my development effort in the last 18 months has gone into my high FPS stuff but I have acquired a few things in the background to modify my look.

It's a little bit of a 2018 throw back using my big pattern vest with my 18 dart magazine pouches. Now, these will take 6 Talon magazines but they're not ideal so on the advice of n_g I popped a Worker flywheel box at the bottom of the 'ready' pouch so they lifted into a better position. The other three pouches can then take other magazines that can be swapped around as needed to keep the 'ready' pouch full. That way, you've got 6 Talons and 1 in the blaster ready and during respawns or general down time.

Now, the indoor black and blue rig is designed to be a little more friendly than the out and out green and camo so there's plenty of space for Velcro patches both on the undershirt and the vest itself.

I hung my MkIV Blastersmiths UK drop-leg holster from the bottom of the vest to better secure it than if I had put it on the belt. Inside was a Cyclone shock for shield piercing. In an environment as tight as the Superstore, you're going to have problems with shields in corridors so being able to put a MEGA round on target with your side-arm is very useful. Normally at places like Bristol Blast, I'd have time to call for support to bust the shield but the tightness and faster pace of an old department store means you'd want your own organic firepower on hand.

Elsewhere, I had a pair of Airtac ring cap grenades for room clearance. I didn't get much use out of them and one went AWOL but I think it's case of letting the system mature in play. They have a particular knack in how they're thrown and pulling them off the vest for use takes practice. I also think only using 1 cap instead of 1 cap and an entire ring would make reloading them faster. I'll be using them at future games and report back.

On my head, I swapped my FAST helmet for something softer: a US Army style field cap and printed a clip to pop it on the beak. I think I might find a way of running a cable back to a USB line that can plug into a power bank because the onboard battery did struggle a little. One of the advantages of a FAST helmet is you can bolt a power bank pouch on the back and call it done. The problem is that FAST helmets aren't the best look - they're a little 'warry' and have that 'I bought this at an Airsoft store' look about them if you're not careful. The images produced on the hat are pretty stable and with an adjustment to get the angle correct, it produces good footage. Bonus points that you can fit a BritNerf patch to the back of it!

Photos courtesy of gamesoffoam.co.uk

You can see the full outfit in the photos above and it works quite nicely. It looks the part without being overly agressive. If I commit to the full transition to Talons, I'll sew up some Talon Hex stacks in the correct colours but for now, the converted gear is working well.

This is the blaster itself, a 3D printed Tempus. Like the rest of this rig, it requires a lot of work to bring it up to battle spec. It was fun to use for a single round but the printing quality problems in it mean the friction fit of the magazine well is too tight and the trigger system is very, very heavy. This isn't a design issue, it's an issue with the meat servo operating the printer. The handling and design of the blaster are fantastic. It has a real assault rifle feel to it, it's great around corners and it feels solid in hand. The length is perfect and it's possible to customise it by adjusting the various length plates at the insterface and buttstock plates. You could also opt for a shorter muzzle brake for an even small former factor. It's not an SMG like the Gryphon, it's a full factor rifle and I prefer it for that.

I'm planning to re-print all of the receiver to reduce the amount of warping present in the build. Hopefully, that will also reduce the amount of friction on surfaces because the original was printed with a 0.5mm nozzle and probably with too much squish. Hopefully, that will be enough to make it a servicable rifle. The next steps would then probably be to redo the triggers so they have a better surface finish for lower friction.

It's weird being back at 130FPS with a very different set of design considerations. You're closer to your resupply points, you're running faster turn around games and generally it has a faster pace to it. It has different kit requirements but it's a nice change from the green and srsbiz that can go hand in hand with the high FPS stuff (by choice, not by requirement for higher energy stuff). My next 130FPS game will likely be at the end of November so I've got plenty of time to get things in order. Lots to think about...