Words By Roar Stene.
Pics by Fort Huxy and Roar Stene.
First of All:
Let me introduce myself. My name is Roar Stene AKA B79, founder of Berserkir Mechanized, a Norwegian military impression team.
The Very Beginning:
I was late to the airsoft party and started in 2011 at the age of 22. When browsing the web, all I knew was that I wanted something of quality. Reading the forums led me to Tokyo Marui. As I’d just recieved the fattest pay check I’d had in years, I decided to go for the most expensive Tokyo Marui I could find; which of course was one of the Next Gen Recoil Shock (NGRS) guns.
I ended up buying the M4A1 SOPMOD, with about 10 magazines, a G&P Eotech 552 replica and a number of unnecessary accessories like a rail mounted M203 and Knights armament suppressor. You know… the regular noobish ‘I want it all’ buying frenzy.
Only a few months later, I bought myself another TM NGRS M4A1 SOPMOD, but this time a CQB-R, as I wanted a shorter rifle. I was quite happy with it.
Simultaneously, I was starting to look at gear and bought some Norwegian military stuff. An NFM Combat Shirt, M2000 pants, a way oversized HK416 Bear vest, kevlar helmet, Bowman radio and all that jazz. Together, it looked kind of like an early Afghanistan loadout but, of course, the rifle was all wrong.
When I posted my loadout for the first time, people said “Hey, buy a VFC HK416 and you got a pretty neat look right there!”
My answer was something along lines of, “As long as Tokyo Marui isn’t making an HK416, I’m sticking with this.”
And I did.
It paid off though. The summer of 2012 came and TM hinted towards releasing an HK416. In October it was official, and I pre-ordered the TM HK416 at the very first chance I had.
Funnily enough though, only a short time after that, VFC decided to release parts which made it possible to build an HK416N. The ‘N’ is the Norwegian-specific version of the HK416.
Not all the details were 100% spot on, but this was as close as we could get without making the credit card burn and buying RS parts.
As soon as all the VFC parts where mounted, I ordered a few cans of NFM EC paint and sprayed a desert paintjob on it. And as stupid as I was, I did some fake weathering on it as well…
Kids, dont do fake weathering, it looks stupid! 🙂
Parts List Anno 2013:
Tokyo Marui HK416
King Arms CompM4
G&P AN/PEQ2A
VFC 16″ barrel with a standard flashhider
VFC front and rear HK style BUIS
VFC HK style vertical grip
Freedom Art Swivel Sling mount
The Constant Work in Progress:
In mid 2013 I was pretty certain the list above was the final result, and I sure as hell certain I was done with this project and wouldn’t have to buy more parts as I was pretty happy.
Well… that was a big FAT lie. The impression game got stronger and my wallet weaker, because I sourced more and more RS stuff.
At this point, I found out that my HK416N would always be a constant work in progress!
Parts List Anno 2016:
Tokyo Marui HK416
RS Aimpoint CompM4 w/Tenebraex killflash
RS HK416 Rail
RS HK416 Slimline buttstock
RS HK416 rear BUIS
RS HK416 front BUIS
RS HK vertical grip
RS HK front sling mount
RS HK/Blackhawk sling
RS Insight M3X
B&T rail covers
VFC Gasblock (without bayonet lug, slingloops are being removed)
VFC 16″ barrel with TM 416 flashhider
FMA AN/PEQ16
Freedom Art Swivel Sling mountThe TM also got some internal upgrades, and shoots about 330fps:
Original TM 355mm brass barrel
Original TM full cylinder
Eagle6 M100 spring
TM HK417 Super High Torque Samarium Cobalt MotorI’ve added a permanent lipo mod, now running G&P 7.4v 30c 1000mah batteries:
The Paint Job:
One of the things I get asked very often, is why I choose to mask off trades, rails and so on.
Why not just paint it all, right?
First of all, looking at reference pics when building an impression is key. Its not often you see a Norwegian HK416 which is completely covered in paint, as the soldiers need to follow instructions on how to paint their rifles.
I’ve even heard stories of soldiers being denied permission to paint their rifle, because they didnt follow the painting instructions the first time they painted their rifle.
I have not been able to study the instructions fully, as I’ve only seen low quality reproductions. It also looks like they update the instructions every now and then.
But the instructions tell personnel which items to mask: all the trades, serials, rails, selector switches, charging handle, buffertube, gas block, barrel, iron sights, dust cover, gaps between the receiver to pistolgrip and so on.
Even the small gaps on the new slimline buttstock it is advised to mask.
It also looks like Norway is not the only country to have these rules. Australia seems to have the same type of instructions, as you can see masked off trades and rails etc.
Anyhow, I dont know the exact reason why they do choose to have these rules, but it might be a warranty thing. Its pretty obvious that its easier to clean the paint off when intricate areas and identifiers are masked up.
And to be honest, I quite like the look it gives.
It’s just one of the “unique” things about Norwegian kit.
A massive, massive thanks to Roar for words, and to Roar and Fort Huxy for pics! Roar and I were going to collaborate on a blog a few years back, but lost contact.
Roar’s work on this blog has exceeded all my expectations and I’m extremely grateful to him 🙂
The Reptile House 