Introduction:

The importance of protecting a soldier's brain, eyes and ears on the battlefield has always been acknowledged. Bullet and frag resistant helmets are a part of the today’s soldier inventory, but in addition to protective equipment worn on the head, the soldier might have to use night vision, gas masks, communication headsets, illuminators, or identification devices, all of which are made by different manufacturers and need to all work together on a soldier's head.

Traditional helmets were envisioned as protective gear, not as integrated load-bearing systems. Ops-Core FAST Helmets on the other hand were designed to meet the requirements of today's soldiers who now have to use and integrate a plethora of headgear on the battlefield. The Ops-Core FAST Helmet is available in several versions with Live Resin recently adding two variants to their 1/35 scale portfolio: FAST Ballistic Helmet and the FAST Carbon Helmet. Both helmets share the same shape, capabilities and features, with the only difference between the two being the shell material and thickness. The Carbon Helmet was designed to provide the user with an extremely lightweight modular platform for NVDs and other devices, and also protect the head from blunt trauma and impacts. It is generally chosen over the Ballistic shell when light weight has precedence over the additional weight of ballistic protection. This could be for recce operations, fast roping, climbing or training.

(adapted from Military Morons website)

Review:

Live Resin recently released number of different ultra-modern helmets in 1/35 scale and this particular review covers their Ops-Core FAST Helmet (LRE-35189). The set is packed in a zip-lock bag additionally protected by a hard cardboard clamshell. The box art on the front shows the contents of the set, while the box art on the back displays the helmet in more detail and states this set can be upgraded with GPNVG-18 (LRE-35198) or any other Night Vision Device available separately from Live Resin.

The kit consists of 6 pieces molded in grey resin. The cast is really good and I found no evidence of any imperfections in resin. The casting carrier blocks are large and should be removed carefully since the carrier connection point goes inside the helmet shell.

The set depicts Ops Core FAST Carbon Helmet in 1/35 scale. The FAST Helmet has a side-cut configuration; the sides of the helmet do not cover the ears so there is no interference with communications headsets or hearing protection. The helmet shell features eight oval holes for ventilation. Loop Velcro fields are provided on the top and rear of the shell for attaching devices, ID markers etc. The sides of the helmet sport FAST-ARC. These are low profile 4-position Accessory Rail Connectors, secured to the helmet by the front and rear chin strap mounting points, which act as a hub for an entire suite of modular helmet accessories: lights, cameras, mandible covers, strobes, etc. The corner between two rails features buckle receiver for gas / O2 mask strap. As for the NVG attachment point, Ops-Core Skeleton Shroud is included on the FAST helmet. This shroud is compatible with front mount visors, flashlights and other visual enhancement devices. The FAST Helmet also incorporates the BISS-NVD lanyard tensioner bungees that extend from the bottom front of the ARC rail on each side and eliminate night vision mount vibration by keeping the device taut against the helmet shell.

All the aforementioned Ops-Core FAST Helmet details are clearly identifiable and wonderfully delivered in this 1/35 scale set. Designed in CAD software and printed on high-resolution 3D printers, these miniature helmets are an accurate representation of real Ops-Core FAST Helmet. This set can be additionally upgraded with helmet accessories and night vision devices available separately from Live Resin. Finally, I tried the Ops-Core FAST helmets on one of Live Resin’s head offerings: Head with balaclavas for Ops Core and Airframe helmet with/without headsets with Team Wendy X-nape (LRE-35204) and found a great fit.

Conclusion:

Live Resin recently released four different sets featuring Ops-Core FAST Helmet in 1/35 scale. The set reviewed here (LRE-35189) features 6 identical Ops-Core FAST Carbon Helmets. The resin cast is perfect with well defined and accurate details. The helmets fit well to Live Resin head offerings and could be further combined with Live Resin helmet accessories to “pimp up” the Ops-Core system.

Thanks to Yaroslav from Live Resin for this review sample.

References:

Ops-Core website
Military Morons