News Updates: I'm off for a well-earned break, and small holiday with 'Mrs Arnie', so I'm leaving the news in the capable hands of Sykobika. He has no access to the news system (Honest, I trust him - it's just rather complex to explain the 'ins and outs' of the news system at short notice), so until Sunday news posts will be made in the forums, in the 'General Airsoft Discussion' section.

Airsoft Supplies: Airsoft Supplies has re-opened, you can find their funky new website here, they've also got a nice section in our site forums, which you can find here.

NewbieFAQ: I can now officially welcome our new site member/contributor, DumboRAT. For those of you that don't know him, he's a incredibly helpful guy, who you'll find in most airsoft forums around the world (specifically AirsoftZone). DumboRAT has been kind enough to mail me the start of our official Newbie Guide, which for the time being I have added to the 'Articles' section.

M870 Review: Neil (aka Airsoft Scotland), has been kind enough to send me a review of the lovely pistol grp M870 to put online. It's now ready for viewing in the reviews section, although a couple of images are needed for it (a couple of images for it are still on their way to me).

ClubMichelle: I forgot to put the link in for the place where the two new revolver replicas are shown below, apologies folks. The official web address for Club Michelle is http://www2t.biglobe.ne.jp/~ohige/. Again it's in Japanese, so just paste the web address into Altavista's Babelfish Translator here.

Wargamer's Shop updates: New at WGC today you'll find the following bit's a bobs.

• ASGD-Meda Hand Grip for MP5 & M16 Series USD23 Instock Now
• ASGD-Meda V1 Stock for AK USD95 Instock Now
• ASGD-Meda V1 Stock for AK ( Camouflaqe Color ) Coming Soon
• Western Arms Prokiller Mark II SV F3.9 ( Full Auto ) USD195 New
• Western Arms SV Single Column Pistol 1911-5.0 ( Limited ) USD230 New

News from DenTrinity: Nelson Chen over at DenTrinity, was kind enough to inform me, that as of today, they will have the SVF3.9 in stock (The full auto WA SV). News from their end, is that the much famed TM P90 hi-capacity mag, will be out in early July. The current specs are that it'll carry 300BB's, and be able to fire a complete clip from a full wind. This means no more clockwork winding in the middle of a firefight - could this mean that TM are going to release new hi-cap mechanisms for their current AEG range? - I'll keep you posted. (Thanks for the heads up Nelson)

"Michelle" pistolles: Yup it's official, I love airsoft pistols, and to aid in my latest airsoft fetish, GunShop Michelle have put up details and imagery of a couple of new pistols that are out. Both have been mentioned several times, but the difference here is that they are now available for sale.

First is the S&W M36 .38 Chief's Special. This sports a 3inch barrel, so is unlikely to be hugely accurate over range, but is ideal as a small gas backup. Accessories for it, include the ankle holster, and various replacement grips.

Second up is my personal favourite - the M629 Performance Center NATO. Erm.. yup it's green and black, but it's powerful, and different, so it wins big points in my book. There are two holsters available specifically for the M629 variants, and one is an open 'race style' holster.

Lastly.. both are made by Tanaka. I thought I'd mention that last, as a lot of people wouldn't bother reading the articles if they knew that to begin with. I may have one of these babies shortly (I live in hope), so I can tell you more about it then. For the 90% of you that can't read Japanese, I'd recommend using Altavista's Translation service for the above pages. Happy reading, and sorry for any typos above, but I'm heading out the door now, and I don't have time to proof read. =)

Things: It's the weekend! (well it's the end of it almost). Things have been busy here of late, and this whole website is run of this one PC that I'm using to type this, hence if I'm occupied, the news tends to get updated less frequently..

Updates: I'll make these quick, as I don't have a great deal of time. Here's the latest (there may be more out there, but this should be enough for the next 24 hours).

Spring Guide: I'm sure I've mentioned this before but AirsoftGuide have put up a table of data, of springs. The table compares the relative power of Systema and PDI AEG mechabox springs.

WGC Updates: Here's the updates from Wargamer's Shop, to me the most intersting info is the new P90 battery, and the M3 shorty.

• Marui M3 Super 90 Shorty USD159
• Classic Army AEGs ( WGC Type )
• Sanyo 9.6V 1700mAh for P90 USD48
• Western Arms SV Single Column Pistol 1911-5.0 ( Limited ) USD230

Smokies: TomAndrews has sent me a nice electrically operated orange smokie. We'll be testing this one out next time I pop down to CombatSouth right after I've built the electronics to 'detonate' it. Again, thanks to Tom for sending me one to have a play with. (Note to people who are mentally deficient - NO NOT mess around with smokes unless you are 100% aware of what you are doing)

Soon to come: We are working on the best P90 review you've ever read/seen, and the only SpeedComp review (with images) on the internet. The only review of the SpeedComp review I've found on the net is one at SOCAL. Again, this is all thanks to the folks who made this possible.

Welcome to a stress free environment#2: Greetings folks, I'm back from my relaxing weekend (which seemed to involve felling rather large trees, and other things) - why do I get roped into these things? I ache all over, but thankfully my fingers still work, so I can at least type some news up.

New TM MP5's: WGC have updated their news covering the metal Marui MP5's. Upon further reading, and chatting to a few folks, it seems that the metal TM MP5s are infact TM MP5s which have been built into a metal body by WGC. If anyone's interested in them the prices are as follows:
Marui Full Metal MP5A2 / MP5SD2 with 350Fps USD446
Marui Full Metal MP5A3 / MP5SD3 with 350 Fps USD484

P90 custom battery: Roy Lin kindly sent me an email to inform me about a custom P90 battery that 'Guarder' made for the TM P90. To fit the larger battery a small amount of the internals need to be cut out. This seems to be a much better method, than the new 'stock extension' accessory that's around. You can find the complete article on Roy's website here. The new battery is a custom 'snake' 9.6V, 1500mAh. (Roy asked for me to put a photo up of him.. this is the funniest I saw on his site)

Squad-X cometh: Squad-X is making a comeback, and it'll be back in all it's glory very shortly. FYI Squad-X, was one of the most linked and read UK team sites in the UK, but the administrator had to take it offline till he had time to redesign the site. I've had a look at the new looks, and it's impressive, there's no public URL available yet. I'll keep you posted on any more news.

Welcome to a stress free environment: Well the stressful days of work have ended here (as of 4:30pm GMT), and here begins the summer holidays..almost. So what does this mean? Well firstly it means that I'm bogging off for a well earned 2 day break, and I'll be away from the PC, so there'll be no news updates till I get back.

I'm sure the world of airsoft can live without news for 48hours. =) Oh.. secondly it does mean that you'll be seeing a bit more news and info appearing on this website.

New Articles: I've added some new articles on BB Grenades that LT Mac has sent me (Thanks Mac), I don't have time to tidy them up (MS Word does something horrible to any HTML that it sees), so I've bunged them online, as I received them. I'll tidy them up when I get back. I don't have time to write a disclaimer, but don't try this at home unless you know what you are doing.

New TM MP5's: Well an 'unofficial rumour' has been comfirmed by WGC. It now seems that TM are going to be producing full-metal MP5 replica's very shortly - this is most likely to combat the sales of ClassicArmy's MP5's. Expected price for the metal TM MP5s is about 400USD.

Anyways.. must go, have a great weekend folks. Next post will be on Sunday at some time.

"Lazy" UK TV Guide: This one's mainly for me to use, but if you're in the UK, you'll now find that I've added a live updated UK TV guide to the 'Articles' page. The guide contains all UK TV, radio and Satellite listings (live updated).

(oh, btw this is another website exclusive, you won't find this info anywhere else)

Exclusive WA "Page3" Article: Ok, so it's not a Page3 article.. it's a 3 page article, but it got you reading didn't it? Courtesy of Mobius (thanks Matt), we've got 3 pages from a new article online for you. You'll find images depicting all the interesting parts of the new full-auto WesternArms pistol (both versions). For those of you that didn't know. WA are releasing the SV F5, and the SV F3.9. The major difference between the two versions is the style of slide. Go on.. have a dribble over these gorgeous new pin-up images. I have recently had a chat to some of the people who have been lucky enough to use the pre-production models. The response so far, has been incredibly enthusiastic!

New SIG 551 review: Florida Airsoft, have a rather nice review of the SIG551 online. I was saving this bit of news for a boring moment, but FA-Lance gave me a poke, and reminded me of it, so here it is:

"...The SIG 551 is perhaps the most under appreciated AEG that Marui produces. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the SIG is a little seen weapon in the US. .... Also having either a gray or greenish (in the case of the 550) finish doesn't help either as it contributes to it being considered too toy looking. Another score against it is its burst fire mode..."

More news: There's probably more news to put here that I've forgotten.. You'll have to forgive me I'm suffering from a small 'brain-fart' (for the USA: this means a temporary memory-loss), so I can't remember what it was that I was going to put online. No, it's not a medical condition, I'm just too knackered for words at the moment. If I said I'd mention something of yours here, please gimme a poke via email, and remind me.

Quiz results: Well if you remember the post I made on Sunday morning, I set a little poser, the question was: "...how many (and what) parts Sam Raimi's brother played in his 1992 film 'Army Of Darkness' .. and the bonus question is: What part did Sam Raimi's brother play in the preceeding film 'EvilDead 2'?..." The correct answer was - 3 parts in total: Cowardly Warrior / Second Supportive Villager / S-Mart Clerk . The bonus answer was that Ted played the part of the possessed Henrietta in ED2.

Yes.. that is Ted Raimi on the right dressed as the "possessed Henrietta".

The winners are, in 1st place Kessler (of the WASPS), and in 2nd place Zard.
(Zard was about 4 hours behind Kessler with the correct answer)

I'll run some more of these little 'posers' occasionally. Hopefully in the future we can find a retailer wishing to sponser the quiz with a few cheap prizes (with some springers or similar).

AirsoftPlayers review of AE parts: AirsoftPlayers have put online a small article covering two re-inforced gear-box parts produced by Airsoft Elite. AP have covered the spring guide rod, and springs. Go and have a read, if you are unaware of the differences between AE/Systema/TM internals.

DenTrinity Exclusive! - New AK Metal Body: Our friends at DenTrinity have just informed me of a new bit of kit that they are working on. Anyone with a TM AK will be interested. (Inferno u reading this?). The image shown to the left is the first prototype AK47 metal body from DTP. The prototype is silver in colour although the final production model will be black. Price will be around USD 180 retail for either AK47 or AK47S. CurrencyConverter

Thanks to DenTrinity you now have the opportunity to full-metal you AK, for that completely indestructable feeling.

More new pistol replicas: Just when you though it was safe to go out and buy a new GBB pistol, 4 arrive at the same time. All these beauties have been spotted over at Tokyo Model Shop, and there's something for everyone. The first, is a competition version of Tanaka's new 629 revolver, and yup, I'll be buying one very shortly... I won't bore you with more details, but the new PEGASUS gas system used by Tanaka is their best yet, provides 14 shots, and an impressive 300fps of power on HFC134a.

The other two interesting bits of kit are the new ProKiller Mark2 SV F5, and the Ruger Mk1 MAXI. (images shown to the left) I've already mentioned the Prokiller Mark 2 here before (it's the F/A SV Infinity). It seems that just to keep us on our toes WA are releasing two models of the new PK Mk2, this previously unmentioned model has a 5 inch slide, rather than the 3.9 recessed slide. The last is a replica for WW2 fans: the Ruger Mk1 MAXI, is a new GBB pistol from Marushin, specifications are still unclear (although it is know that it has an 18 round mag), but the expected price is 9,800Yen. CurrencyConverter

'DolphiN works': Some of the site projects that we've had on the back-burner will shortly be started, here at ArniesAirsoft. First on the list are the PulseRifle and the MORITA projects. Both of the project pages will be updated as the designs are finalised and as the construction commences. Dolphin#1 and myself will be heading up the two projects.

TombRaider pistols: Sci-Firearms have added information about the H&K USP Hybrids from the new Hollywood film TombRaider. Did you know that there was a airsoft springer replica of the TR pistols? If not, you'll want to go and have a read of the news article.

Site quote: Glen Turnock was kind enough to remind me where the quote "Clatu Verata Nictu" originally came from (because I couldn't). If anyone's seen the Sam Raimi film 'Army Of Darkness', I know it's mentioned there, but that is merely a homage to the aforementioned film. The original quote is from the 1951 film 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' . For today's trivia quiz, you have to tell me how many (and what) parts Sam Raimi's brother played in his 1992 film 'Army Of Darkness' .. and the bonus question is: What part did Sam Raimi's brother play in the preceeding film 'EvilDead 2'? The first person(s) to send me the correct answer wins the momentus prize of getting mentioned here for posterity. Hey - if I was a retailer I'd offer a cheap springer or summint.

Click the image above to visit the official Mistral Website

Project Ideas: We've been hunting high and low for some specific project information, as DolphiN#1 and myself are conducting research for our respective summer projects, namely the Morita rifle and the PulseRifle. During our research we've come up with a few interesting links. I don't know if anyone can remember the short-lived series 'Space: Above and Beyond', if you do you may remember the weaponry from the film... If not, have a read of the following links and pages.

Trijicon ACOG replica review: Airsoft canada have a review up of the relatively new Trijicon ACOG sight:

M3 Tech Manuals posted: Good news for any aspiring TM M3 owners, with either broken M3s, or with devious projects on their mind. AirsoftPlayers have posted the official TM M3 Technical Manuals. To find out where the multitude of little springs, and plastic parts go, have a read of their manual section.

New M11 silencer in the works: Head 1950 are currently developing a vented silencer, and barrel extension for the Ingram M11a airsoft replicas. The images of the first prototypes from their 'trial manufacture' are on their 'new-info' page, which can be found on their website. The custom product actually consists of two parts, the M11 type barrel extension (KM Barrel) and the Ingram M11 type RPB silencer. Prices, release date, and further specs are unknown at this time, as Head1950 are still developing this product. Should any more information come out of the wood-work it'll appear here.

Here you can see the replica (top), shown against the real steel accessory (bottom).

Links and forums updates: I've updated the links section slightly (Hustler's page, and AmbushWargames are now listed), and I've updated and tweaked our forums. In the forums, you'll find some new sections, including a dedicated CombatSouth thread (UK skirmish site), and a similar thread for AmbushWargames (another UK skirmish site).

You'll also find that I've added an AirsoftDynamics thread. AD, are a well known and reliable UK retailer, who are happy to answer questions including quotes, and order queries. Please note that we have no arrangement with AD, financial or otherwise. We simply consider them to be a valuable asset to the UK forums section.

I've added moderators to some of the forums, to help keep things in order, and to make my life easier.

P90 Battery Extension: If for some reason, you'd like to fit a larger battery to your new P90, you'll find a new bit of kit listed on the AirsoftDynamics webpage. The accessory extends the stock, increasing the available battery area, so that you can easily fit a TOP M90 battery. UK prices are listed as £55 for the extension, and around £60 for the TOP battery.

Gas Blowback Guide: Airsoft Retreat has posted a 'Gas Blowback Handgun Guide' written by Colonel Stinger. For experienced airsofters, it's unlikely that there's anything there of great interest, but for the beginner, or newbie airsofter, it's a must read. Please don't get me wrong - it's a good, well written article, and it's nice to see basic advice like this online.

Well it's time for a news update, and I'm about 24hours late on this update, but to be honest I'm kinda knackered.. a little stressed, in need of a break, and an airsoft skirmish. So.. it's time for some little escapism in the form of some news updates.

Electric BlowBack (EBB) - It's cheaper, and more effective than you thought. The image above is from Club Michelle"I gotta get me one 'o these!..."

TM 'Electric Blowback' Desert Eagle: Club Michelle, a well known Japanese retailer, have some good pics, and details on the TM DE EBB. "Eugh!".. I hear you say.. EBB..Well to save you reading or translating the Japanese I'll list some of the more interesting points. Lets just get this straight, this is an electric spring pistol, so don't expect it to outrange an AEG. You can expect this replica to be fun, and to dig you out of a hole, as it's built by TM, expect the build quality to be high. For those of you that don't know, the technology behind the TM EBB's was developed from their range of 'minis'. (yup those god-awful little plastic thingies)

Now for the bit you won't believe (I suddenly feel a positive tidal-wave of emails coming my way) : the TM EBB DE costs 2,980 Yen, and spare / replacement mags cost 400Yen. For the mathematically inept (or hungover/highly-caffienated), and the folks who don't know I've put a live updated currency converter in the "about section" of this site, that's £17 for the pistol, and £2.30 per mag. Now.. who cares that the performance isn't great ? For £17, who cares ? Now I wouldn't recommend this replica for woodland environments, but if you play CQB or are a collector, why not get one?

I wouldn't recommend attempting to service these bits of kit.. just don't - if it fails, either hang it on the wall, or file it in the universal disposal device (the trash-can). I've seen inside these things, if you thought an AEG gearbox was complex, wait until you crack open one of these babies. TM's EBBs are built in true Japanese style - loads of tiny intricate, fragile, sprung loaded parts. Giant loafs with fingers like a yeti need not apply (erm.. that's me discounted then).

The TT-33 is a revised version of the TT-30, that fixed some of the TT-30's shortcomings. Russia continued manufacturer of this pistol into the 1950's, and entasked China to manufacture some of the demand. When Russia ceased their use, China continued production of the TT-33, through to the present day (The North Koreans and CCF used the Tokarev extensively during the Korean War).

Sadly it appears that this replica will not be f/a enabled. But then again, very few airsofters will be purchasing an M712 for skirmishing purposes.

Marushin M712 Maxi: Yup, it's the "broomhandle" again. I've posted about it again because it's another bit of WW2 kit, that's appeared over at ClubMichelle. Although they only have two for sale, Marushin have actually released 3 variants (silver, ABS and HeavyWeight). Listed here is the black ABS version, and (the one shown to the left), a full silver metal version. Unfotunately the 'stock-holster' (again shown to the left) is not standard, but a separate accessory. Here's what I know so far about the M712: The trigger and safety are fulling working, but the fire-select switch and the bolt are non-functional.

Accessories include replacement wood grips for 4000Yen (23UKP), the wooden stock-holster for 18000Yen (106UKP) and extra mags are 3500Yen (20UKP).