E&S head compatibility

DIY Projects & Help
#1

I have decided that I will be replacing the head and body of my CAG squad leader bash with that of the one coming with the upcoming E&S 26040A figure, and the 3.5 body from one of the upcoming DAM figures. Would those two parts be compatible?

Additionally, that particular bash is using the headsculpt from the SMU woodland warfare figure (the Walter Groggins one) and the neckless E&S 2.0 body at the moment, so I could save it for a different bash, such as my DEVGRU tech specialist. I have always intended to use the Jason Clarke head from either the Direct Action breacher figure or HALO tandem set as I felt that it had the right vibe for that role. I would have preferred to use the latter as it is more modern and neckless, but as It seems that that one is unavailable, I may need to use the former. The issue with that one is that it was made to fit with the E&S 1.0 body, and I intend to use it with a neckless DAM 2.0 body. So would the Woodland warfare head, the direct action breacher head, or the DAM riverine rifleman desert version head (which I have on my pointman bash) be compatible with that body? If so, then which of the first two should I use on the Tech specialist figure?

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#2

I wouldn’t know about the DAM 3.5 body, but with the necked 3.0 body and neckless E&S head sculpt, I just tried swapping the inner liners on the heads and it works perfectly well for putting an E&S head on a DAM body and vice versa.
With the necked heads, I don’t know. I put a 1.0 E&S head on a HT clone body and had to do some fiddling with the neck because it just stuck out was too long. So, I pulled out the connector, cut down the neck a bit and glued everything together. Maybe you could just switch the connectors, maybe you might have to do some modding.

#3

I am using the Jason Clarke sculpt from the HALO figure for a SEAL “heavy breacher” bash because I really like that sculpt. It’s in the original body from the same figure which - even though a 2.0 body - is still kind of loose in the middle and tends to bend forward. Since it is a neckless head, I’ll probably scrap the body and use a DAM body. If you have that head, why not just stick it in a necked DAM body?! I also habe the Goggins head, nur that is necked on both the SMU figure and the PSD figure.

#4

I don’t have any Jason Clarke heads at all, and the only one that is available has a neck on it. I’ll keep an eye out for the other version, but I just want to know what alternative options I have in case it doesn’t emerge again. As for your bash, are you using one of the heavy breacher sets from General’s armory? The dark version has become something of a holy grail for me, if only for the multicam black uniform (a rarity these days) and the mandible that comes with the set. The latter would serve admirably on my DEVGRU machine gunner build, but as that particular part (to say nothing of the whole set) likewise continues to elude me, I think that I’ll just use one of those mesh face masks from the E&S British figure s instead.

#5

Actually, my bash is more oriented towards the original “DA Breacher” by E&S and the reference pics behind it. @oso2013 and @the_recon have done some nice bashes very close to the ref pics. I am taking more “artistic liberty”, using the HS and body plus classic skull print face cover from the E&S figure, the uniform and blast belt from the GA set, and the PC and MK17 from Soldier Story’s Voodoo.
“Heavy” in my case refers more to the load-out with lots of 40mm grenades, blow charges, breaching tools. The GA set is certainly good, but for my taste, the mandible, extra limb armor etc. is kind of too futuristic. I want the figure to still look like a more or less recent SEAL.

#6

Interesting. I have a breacher bash of my own that I imagine has a somewhat similar aesthetic, with the battle belt and multicam black uniform. However I use a different, more Hispanic-looking headsculpt as I visualize them as a Colombian immigrant (like me), the uniform from the DA breacher with rolled up sleeves in order to show off the Tattoos that I put on the arms along with the breaching charges and skull bandana, the MMAC from the MSRT figure, the helmet from the LAPD SWAT figure, the GPNVG from the SMU raid figure, and instead of the crye blast belt I use the belt from DAM’s recent French LE figure.

Both my 2 DEVGRU and 2 CAG bashes use those belts, and once the slimmer ones from the upcoming E&S 26040A come out, I’ll save the French belts from the CAG figures for my future DEVGRU bashes, which if I can get 2 more loose ones by then, will leave me with six belts in total. I could get two of the Crye BB from the DAM AOR1 NSWDG figure as the extras, but I would have to dye them black, and even then they wouldn’t fit in with the French belts. On the other hand though, with the blast belts I wouldn’t have to modify them the same way that I have had to do with some of the French belts in order to fit holsters onto them, as they seem to have already have a slit on the bottom. That would also make it easier to install tomahawks as well, and I’m fairly sure that those belts are in use by DEVGRU. So do you think that I should stick with the French belts, or should I replace them all with the DEVGRU belts?

For weapons, I use the P226R from the DAM 78040, the winkler knife from the DEA SRT figure, the winkler tomahawk from the E&S SMU SAW gunner, and an E&S MCX that I modified to resemble an LVAW as a placeholder until a real one gets made.

#7

To struck a point with the belts. I’m still thinking about how and where to postion the holster for the P226 on my figure. The GA blast belt would only allow to slip a normal holster on the inner belt, but then, that holster sits way back or totally up front, both positions don’t really seem practical. To fir it to the MOLLE, I would probably need some kind of MOLLE-compatible holster or adapter. The adapters that allow fixing a holster to a vest seem to be too wide for the belt because they that up most of one side and make the blast belt kind of stiff. This doesn’t seem to be something you would want in real life either. Sticking the holster on the normal duty belt will interfere with the blast belt. A drop-leg holster might do, but seems akward… Right now, I have opted for sticking the P226 in a normal ammo pouch looped to the blast belt. There are pics of operators caarying their sidearm that way, but I am not totally happy with it because I would think a breacher might have to reach for and draw his pistols quickly upon breaching and entering.
Will the belts from the DAM NSWDG figure have a different design that allows a standard holster to be fitted? I just ordered two of the Glocks plus holsters from that figure and will have to see, how these holsters might work.
Otherwise, I use the AOR1 blast belt, as well as the AOR1 PC from “Voodoo”, since I’m a total sucker for AOR1, personally and think that any decent SEAL/NSWDG should have at least some AOR1 on them. Same for the helmet, which is one of the numerous Maritime FAST iterations from E&S in AOR1 with GPNVG, although I might change that to a black helmet.

#8

Assuming that the holsters that you ordered were from either the AOR1 or AOR2 NSWDG figures, then you should be able to fit them onto the belt from the former if the official photos are anything to go by. I’d also imagine that the versions made by E&S would also work. If your issue is that it would be placed too far towards the front of the belt, then just move the belt such that the holster is at the position that you want. That’s what I’ve done on my battle belts, although to me the positioning of the various other pouches are more important than that of the holster, as that doesn’t really move enough to seriously affect an operator’s ability to extract the gun within.

As for AOR1 and AOR2, I prefer multicam instead, seeing how it has largely supplanted those DEVGRU’s current main camo pattern, and has a black variant. I planned to outfit my DEVGRU operators with multicam NJPCs from the E&S 26041S figure, an S&S plate frame, and something for the machine gunner that I haven’t been able to figure out yet (do I just use a chest rig over a PC, or just a PC with appropriately sized pouches?), but I just couldn’t resist getting the AOR1 NJPC and blast belt from the 78065 figure that I mentioned earlier, since it came with all of the included projects. But since I’ll be dyeing all of that gear in order to make them resemble multicam black, I guess that I’ll just have to use some extra dye to turn the AOR1 parts solid black. That way I could even use the side armor pouches from the Very Hot Toys NJPC.

#9

As for MC: I personally regret that DEVGRU is going Multicam, although that was probably inevitable - the AOR1 always kind of set them apart from other SOF units and ever since the UBL raid, it has just been the iconic SEAL/DEVGRU camo for me.
With the ubiqitous MC, virtually all SOF now look so similar and so generic… That’s why my personal long-term project is a full-fledged “ZDT”-era DEVGRU team, all in AOR1.
I’ll have another try at the blast belt for fixing a holster.

#10

I think that units like CAG, DEVGRU, and the 24th STS have distinct enough gear these days that telling them apart is not too much of a problem, like the tomahawks, SPCs, GSGM mounts, and of course the GPNVGs. It’s the regular SOCOM units like the Rangers, Green Berets, Raiders, Force Recon, and other tier 2 AFSOC units whose operators all look the most homogeneous. Even then, those items are some of the only things that distinguish the tier 1 units from the tier 2. I think that it’s because since all of those units by their nature use the best of the best weapons and equipment, it stands to reason that there’s only so much of those toys and gizmos that can be used. At that level, the only differentiating factor is the individual preferences of those operators. Kind of how like all modern pistols use the browning action because it’s what works the best.

At the end of the day though, it’s a question of whether you know what gear units use.