Today on the blog I am featuring my teammate and good buddy, Venema.6mm. He’s now part of the LowLandRaiders crew for over a year now. And he’s done some incredible work on his MARSOC impression and now JTAC ‘specialism’ kit.
In the blog we will talk about some events, some adventures, him starting Airsoft and his development in building his impression up from the ground in a years’ time.
Hey Timo! Could you introduce yourself to the readers?
Hey, I’m Venema.6mm on Instagram, I am 20 years old and live in the Purmerend area in the Netherlands. In daily life I’m a mechanic for trucks and cars. But I’m looking into joining the Dutch military in the near future.
Started from the bottom …
I always had interest in the army and as I said, I’m still preparing myself to get into it in the near future. I really dig the gear and weaponry stuff from a young age. I think it’s a little bit of the stuff that all younger boys find ‘cool’ about the army and being a soldier.
But I first started doing an education as car mechanic and would pursue the Army career at a later point. In the meantime, I played with a buddy a game of Paintball. It was not really something I really liked due to the unrealistic form of it. But when we did some digging into it, we came across Airsoft. We watched some videos and decided to get a membership with the NABV and start getting our own action in. I did not really start of too hardcore. I had some basic gear and setup, just enough to keep me rolling through the day.
I played a few regular skirmish days with my buddy. But I didn’t really find it interesting anymore after a few games. It felt I was lacking some more… realism? Did some googling and research again and I found out there is a special branch of airsoft called Milsims. I really liked the idea from the start and I knew this is something I would really enjoy. Unfortunately, I didn’t know anyone that did milsims. All my friends were regular skirmish dudes, so I played with the idea of starting my own, milsim oriented team. I met a guy who was also into gear and we just met a few times, played some games and tried to get the team of the ground. Immediately we were met with some pessimism by my buddies I’ve played airsoft with for a while. They found it too extreme or too costly. Maybe a little bit due to the fact I wanted to focus on proper gear, instead of the Chinesium and other types of low-quality stuff. That eventually stranded.
It felt I was lacking some more… realism?
I decided I would just go on my own a little more and started doing more research. I discovered brands like Crye and I eventually I met an advert from you – Hero / Kaz.6mm – on the internet selling your Crye AVS plate carrier. So, we chatted a while about what we did, and I really got hooked. The fact that there was team in the Netherlands that was serious about gear, doing an impression and milsim oriented was an amazing coincidence and the thing I was looking for.
And that was basically the start of the journey to where I am now today.
Gucci, Louis, Prada
When I first started, I had interest in gear and looking on par. Not some raggedy tag kit that just didn’t make sense at all. The look and feel you present at a field need to be pretty on par in my opinion. #fashionistathings
I started out with a multicam set, I believe it was Emerson at the time. I also bought my first carrier as a Warrior Assault Systems DCS and had it decked out with various WAS pouches. At the time I really thought It was a great piece of gear. And in some way, it still is. But I discovered if you’re going to compare it to the likes of Eagle Industries, LBT, Crye Precision and Arc’Teryx. It’s just not on the same level. It’s good gear, it’s just not Tier 1 gear I would say. But that’s just my personal opinion on the matter.
And when I started the MARSOC impression, it just was not kosher, and I started looking into the gear those guys used. Which would be two of the brands I just mentioned. And the fact that I always have been interested in gear made it even more logical to opt for the higher quality brands. Plus, the fact that I would call it ‘gucci’-gear.
I also see it as a fun part of airsofting, the collecting, the gear hoarding, the option to choose out of the gear you have collected and being able to make different setups, et cetera.
When we first met for a regular skirm at Fort Barchon (BE), you had me introduced to the LLR team and I already started buying the basics for the kit. I purchased your Crye AVS, I had the Crye AVS belt and the TMC Drifire woodland set at the time.
And that was basically it. You could call it my personal transition from Freestyle kit into the MARSOC impression.
The fact that I am like a youngster, have a job but not real ‘adult-life’-bills. I had a big budget to spent monthly on gear. And I was spending every month 60-70% of it on gear. I wanted to have my kit finished fast so I would be up to the standard that LLR desired so to speak, and of course go even further than that. I had the basic kit / Direct Action (DA) kit done in a period of 4-6 months. Still need to add some minor details like pens and carabiners and those kinds of stuff. Plus having more items to pick out of for events, missions and other desires. But I wanted to start on my JTAC kit fast. It really felt as a nice challenge and one that would fit the team with its purpose on the field and of course for the realism within a MARSOC unit.
Not to mention, It was all a bit addictive for me, the gear hoarding, searching for it online and doing the research. What’s greater than having a pouch that you’ve looked for so long to figure out what it actually is and then owning it after you found it online!
Prepare the repro’s to be less like repro’s
A thing that really sped up my impression is the use of repro placeholders. I think that repro’s are definitely not bad in Airsoft. It is just something I want to take an extra mile for to have the real thing. Some items are either too expensive or hard to find. You can build great kits out of only repro’s. If you do some proper modification or weathering or fielding them for example to make them look more realistic. Sometimes the shine of a TMC CB fabric is off putting. Roll that thing in the dirt, smack that thing against a dirt road and man-handle that thing till the shine is off. Your impression is not bad if you do not own everything real steel. Work within your budget, but don’t half-ass it so to speak.
An example I’d like to give is a element PEQ box I bought for the impression. It’s not really looking sexy and the colour is definitely off looking to the real thing. But I found on the Reptile House Blog an article of a guy who did some modifications to it to make it more realistic and closer to the original thing. Of course, I am not gonna spent 2k EUR on an item that I won’t use that often and doesn’t really have the values worth in airsoft in general. But I can spend a few euro’s extra and have it look far more realistic and closer to the real one.
So, I gave it some wear, painted it and did some more detailing. And I when you have both units together, the element one and the element one I modded, the difference is huge. And that’s with most of the repros in general. You will always have to go an extra mile to make it much and much better.
Just don’t let you get put off by impressionism by the price and stuff. As it is possible to make it fit in your budget. Sometimes with a little more patience.
Also, if you want to buy realsteel stuff, invest it in the items you used the most. So a good set of clothing is far more important than a PEQ box you’re not using most of the time.
Invest the money in the stuff that is going to reward you the most.
‘Jay the Tac’ loadout
After I finished my DA kit I started to investigate which specialisation I wanted to do. I digged through our albums and unit structure and what not. And I just fell in love with the visual of a JTAC. The radio’s, the antenna’s, the tech stuff he works with. It looked so cool and I grew fond of the idea of pursuing such thing. So, we discussed it in the team, and we agreed on it that I would start specialising myself in it.
The first process of the research was hard. There were not a lot of pics available of JTAC’s in our timeframe attached to MARSOC specifically. Thus, I had some room for interpretation and needed to look to a broader picture and decide what would be kosher and logical for MARSOC. Discussing some choices with the team and getting more into the mindset of a JTAC enabler, I think I have come far. There are some key items in a JTAC kit that are easy to start with, but it comes all down to the details.
I made in my mind the basis of a JTAC / CCT kit and I freestyled some things around it that I have seen at JTACs from other units or that would fit in my interpretation of the JTAC mentality. Some things I will change in the future when I get new insights on the matter.
A good way how I normally spot JTACs is the way how they act on reference pictures. They have dual radio setups; they are most often busy with radio communications from ground to air and stuff. When there is a plain insight in the picture, you will spot that guy that is actually ‘busy’ with the plane so to speak. You can see it by the patch they are wearing, some things in the kit. The KDU for programming the radio, special antennas they are using for communication, laptops and other type of computers, et cetera. Also a good indicator is how they sometimes have setup pouches. JTAC normally have a lot of batteries available and are not entirely focused on fighting a big battle. So they’re not knee deep in magazines and stuff. Their setups are usually different from the ‘regular’ troops in that unit.
Not saying that if a person has those items it is 100% a JTAC. But those are indicators of the stuff that it could possibly be a JTAC. You’ll have to investigate further and do thorough research, as always.
Ask people for their expertise and knowledge when you spot such a picture. Have discussions and ask around I would advice to people. It is not super straight forward, and that makes it interesting to pull off a good kit I would say.
Eyes on the price (tags)
Some of the items I am happy with that I collected over the past year are My Mystery Ranch 3 Day Assault Pack. It is a nice pack and I love it as I can use it very versatile. I can use it for DA, support being more of a ‘support’ element in my team or my JTAC kit when I am carrying a drone and a laptop for example. The Glock 6354DO holster is something I am happy with. I had a hard time finding it and eventually found it for a really good price. I would say those are the two items I enjoy the most to this day.
For the JTAC kit I would like a PRC117 in the future. It will be hard, maybe have a 3D printed model or something I do not know. It will be more of a visual thing than a real users item.
For my DA or standard MARSOC kit I would say finishing my helmet setup to be completely real steel, maybe some small specific items and d
The milsim experience
You have attended one milsim to this day. Due to corona things have gone a different route than originally planned for 2020. Could you tell some more about your first experience with milsim, as it’s something you really looked forward to for a long time.
Timo; the first event I attended was the event in Metz. I would not really call it a ‘Tier 1’ milsim so to speak. It is quite different from Forlorn Freedom – which I was not able to attend in 2020. The first-time experience of the event was great. We had a lot of fun, but I would not really say this is an event I am looking forward to every year. I expected some things different and some things happened that really ruined the vibe for me. But the fact being there with the team, trying to have a good time and do cool shit together, that is a hell of a lot of fun. Like having boring moments together where you must get yourself and your buddies through.
The organisation did its best. But there is a lot to improve, I think. The missions were quite short and had some weird quirks due to the storyline and stuff.
Personally, I think that the setting is the most important thing of a milsim. The setting, the vibe, it needs to give you the feeling you are there and that makes the roleplay much interesting and more real. Speaking about roleplay, everyone must play the role well and serious. If some are not really into the mentality to play their role thoughtful, the whole believability of the event goes to waste. Base camps should also have the proper setups and realism added. Small details make huge differences sometime. It depends on the organisation and the team they can work with to pull this off. And the time they have in advance before the event is starting to setup everything up.
The same goes for the team effort of a certain faction. When there is a squad or a team that is not really on it. It is just a real downer for the whole event. The smallest things matter, but with everything that goes. From (role)players, factions, setups, missions, storyline, look and feel. It is complex to pull off and I wish the organisation the best of luck in improving their events more and more for this.
Events I am really looking forward are Forlorn Freedom. The stories and the footage I’ve seen from last year are so amazing and I really hope COVID will ***k off by that time, so the event won’t be cancelled. And Berget with the team this year is something that would be awesome to join. But Forlorn Freedom is where the money is to my taste.
Dutch Milsim Network is something I also looking forward to. But due to COVID was all cancelled last year, so I’m just hoping that this year it would be way cooler, and I can finally start to kick off the milsim adventures.
Beginners tips
First off, I would advice to start asking yourself. How much money do I want to, and can I spend on an impression? Make it noticeably clear for yourself that you have a budget and work within those boundaries you set yourself.
Do proper research, do not haste it and take the time. The success of an impression lies within the research department and of course ask questions, ask people that have the knowledge to guide you and join the various Facebook groups. Ask around, but do not ask obvious question that you can just find on google with one search. If you do effort and people see that they are more eager to help you out than you are just asking all the standard things that 100 people before you already asked. It will not give you a good reputation in the community.
I’m always available to help people with their MARSOC impressions and stuff, so if you’d like some advice, just hit me up!
Thanks to my mom and dad.
I want to give a special shoutout to my team:
LowLandRaiders.
They really helped me out a lot when starting and gave me great advice and insights.
I want to thank Raider_LV
for being extremely helpful and thoughtful. Sending me loads of refpics for my JTAC impression and helping me in ID’ing some pouches.
Shoutout to n03_nld_na339,
not really for helping with the MARSOC kit. But his DSI impression kit it insane and I took some of the liberty to get inspired and motivated to work on my kit and he’s an awesome guy.
The Italians from the 4th MRRB
I want to give a shoutout. Awesome blokes with cool kit.
Those are the people that inspired me the most and I also look up to. I think I have forgotten way too many people. So, if you do not see your name, I’m terribly sorry. But you know who you are!
Milsimminded is someone that gave me a lot of info and helped me with setting up my airsoft replica. So also, a shoutout to him.
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