First of all, if you haven't seen marsattack's drop-down IR site, take a look here.
Ever since I received my drop-down IR sights from mars a few weeks ago, I have been wanting to post a testimonial. Finally I’ve been able to clear some time to do this, so here I go.
Like many of you, I have been yearning for a definitive USCM drop-down IR site for years. For a long time, the best we could manage was the excellent tutorial that Chris/FNG created for adapting a Brookstone lighted, spring-loaded magnifying glass which, combined with the decals a few members designed for the targeting readout and crosshairs, made a very respectable drop-down sight. Still, it was a substitute to tide us over until someone offered a replica that was truly screen-correct.
At last, marsattack has delivered what I’ve been waiting for.
In the thread introducing his sight to the board, mars refers to the replica as the “ultimate add-on” for your USCM helmet. After receiving my order of three sights, I have to agree. This is the ultimate helmet upgrade in the sense that (1) it’s extremely well-researched and true to what we see on the screen, (2) it’s made of extremely high-quality components, including a machined metal frame, laser-etched acrylic eyepiece, electronics, and numerous small detail pieces, (3) it’s painstakingly assembled to a finish both beautiful and functional, with dual LEDs that illuminate automatically when the eyepiece is lowered and shut off when the sight is raised, and (4) it is completely custom designed and produced, and therefore in a different class of upgrade than the Beyerdynamics M-560, the ITEX Ear Defender, or any other found part that one could reasonably expect to source through patience and diligence. The marsattack drop-down sight is one of the most sophisticated and just plain cool replica prop offerings I’ve seen on any board in eight-plus years of membership and lurking.
Each individual component is of very high quality, giving the entire assembly an extremely authentic look and feel. In particular I am impressed by the decision to machine the frame, which is in a sense the “foundation” of the sight and thus a make-or-break component. The face that the frame is metal and not resin makes a big difference to me. The precise laser engraving on the eyepiece is much superior to a decal and enables the text and targeting markings to light up like a HUD display when the LEDs are activated, producing an effect just like that in the film.
Apart from being thoroughly impressed with the engineering and execution of this piece, there’s a third reason I would like to salute Marcel...
When mars brought this project to us, he did so in a sale thread, not an interest thread and not a preorder thread. Now, I have nothing against interest threads, and like many of us I have grown accustomed to preordering items and putting up money in advance for goodies that don’t yet exist. It pretty much goes with the turf.
But how refreshing it is, and how impressive, that mars presented his IR sight to us as a finished item ready for immediate delivery! Typically, this type of very ambitious project would come to the board first as an interest list, then payments would be taken, then weeks and months would go by as the project developed, all the while investors clamoring for updates and photos, some of them perhaps becoming disillusioned and asking for refunds. Finally we would receive the product... or maybe not. In the best case, the quality of the product would make all the waiting and agonizing worthwhile. In the worst case, after stringing us along, the seller would vanish with our money without ever having delivered the product.
Marcel is the rare example of a propmaker taking on the full burden of the project, including all of the financial risk, by himself at the outset. For the end user, there is no speculative investment, no indeterminate period of waiting, no risk of fraud. The item is complete and ready for immediate delivery, and quality has already been confirmed by several members as extremely high. For any project, but especially one so intricate and sophisticated as this drop-down IR eyepiece, I think this approach is exceptional. I would like to thank and congratulate marsattack publicly for making these wonderful pieces available to us in so splendid a fashion. Thank you, mars!
I am currently in the process of accurizing a set of Terry English Husdon armor, and Marcel’s IR sight came along at precisely the right moment. In my opinion, they are worth every penny. I feel this way especially when I try to imagine creating one of these myself from scratch. I’m sure I would spend time and money in excess of what mars is asking, and my results would not be half so good.
I know this is running long now, and I’ll wrap up in a moment. But first I’d like to make a suggestion for anyone who covets one of these amazing replicas but has felt constrained because of the price. I’m sure that there must be a lot of collectors and costumers out there who would LOVE to upgrade their helmets with this eyepiece -- it’s hard to imagine anyone with a USCM helmet who wouldn’t want one of these sights -- but the economy is just too tough right now.
When I purchased my three units from mars, he offered me a discount before I even asked for one. (I’m finding that that’s the kind of great guy he is. Just ask TAZ.) Because my three IR sights could be packaged together, the cost of tracked and insured shipping was greatly reduced, and mars passed along those savings to me in the form of a substantial discount.
So I was thinking maybe some of you marines out there who want these sights might consider getting together for a group order. One person could be the “point man” or “point woman” for others in your area. If mars were to ship several units together to one location, I bet he would be willing to offer a big discount that would considerably reduce the price of individual units. Try asking him. He’s very easy to work with!
Thanks again, mars, for delivering the piece I’ve been wanting for YEARS! :love :thumbsup
Ever since I received my drop-down IR sights from mars a few weeks ago, I have been wanting to post a testimonial. Finally I’ve been able to clear some time to do this, so here I go.
Like many of you, I have been yearning for a definitive USCM drop-down IR site for years. For a long time, the best we could manage was the excellent tutorial that Chris/FNG created for adapting a Brookstone lighted, spring-loaded magnifying glass which, combined with the decals a few members designed for the targeting readout and crosshairs, made a very respectable drop-down sight. Still, it was a substitute to tide us over until someone offered a replica that was truly screen-correct.
At last, marsattack has delivered what I’ve been waiting for.
In the thread introducing his sight to the board, mars refers to the replica as the “ultimate add-on” for your USCM helmet. After receiving my order of three sights, I have to agree. This is the ultimate helmet upgrade in the sense that (1) it’s extremely well-researched and true to what we see on the screen, (2) it’s made of extremely high-quality components, including a machined metal frame, laser-etched acrylic eyepiece, electronics, and numerous small detail pieces, (3) it’s painstakingly assembled to a finish both beautiful and functional, with dual LEDs that illuminate automatically when the eyepiece is lowered and shut off when the sight is raised, and (4) it is completely custom designed and produced, and therefore in a different class of upgrade than the Beyerdynamics M-560, the ITEX Ear Defender, or any other found part that one could reasonably expect to source through patience and diligence. The marsattack drop-down sight is one of the most sophisticated and just plain cool replica prop offerings I’ve seen on any board in eight-plus years of membership and lurking.
Each individual component is of very high quality, giving the entire assembly an extremely authentic look and feel. In particular I am impressed by the decision to machine the frame, which is in a sense the “foundation” of the sight and thus a make-or-break component. The face that the frame is metal and not resin makes a big difference to me. The precise laser engraving on the eyepiece is much superior to a decal and enables the text and targeting markings to light up like a HUD display when the LEDs are activated, producing an effect just like that in the film.
Apart from being thoroughly impressed with the engineering and execution of this piece, there’s a third reason I would like to salute Marcel...
When mars brought this project to us, he did so in a sale thread, not an interest thread and not a preorder thread. Now, I have nothing against interest threads, and like many of us I have grown accustomed to preordering items and putting up money in advance for goodies that don’t yet exist. It pretty much goes with the turf.
But how refreshing it is, and how impressive, that mars presented his IR sight to us as a finished item ready for immediate delivery! Typically, this type of very ambitious project would come to the board first as an interest list, then payments would be taken, then weeks and months would go by as the project developed, all the while investors clamoring for updates and photos, some of them perhaps becoming disillusioned and asking for refunds. Finally we would receive the product... or maybe not. In the best case, the quality of the product would make all the waiting and agonizing worthwhile. In the worst case, after stringing us along, the seller would vanish with our money without ever having delivered the product.
Marcel is the rare example of a propmaker taking on the full burden of the project, including all of the financial risk, by himself at the outset. For the end user, there is no speculative investment, no indeterminate period of waiting, no risk of fraud. The item is complete and ready for immediate delivery, and quality has already been confirmed by several members as extremely high. For any project, but especially one so intricate and sophisticated as this drop-down IR eyepiece, I think this approach is exceptional. I would like to thank and congratulate marsattack publicly for making these wonderful pieces available to us in so splendid a fashion. Thank you, mars!
I am currently in the process of accurizing a set of Terry English Husdon armor, and Marcel’s IR sight came along at precisely the right moment. In my opinion, they are worth every penny. I feel this way especially when I try to imagine creating one of these myself from scratch. I’m sure I would spend time and money in excess of what mars is asking, and my results would not be half so good.
I know this is running long now, and I’ll wrap up in a moment. But first I’d like to make a suggestion for anyone who covets one of these amazing replicas but has felt constrained because of the price. I’m sure that there must be a lot of collectors and costumers out there who would LOVE to upgrade their helmets with this eyepiece -- it’s hard to imagine anyone with a USCM helmet who wouldn’t want one of these sights -- but the economy is just too tough right now.
When I purchased my three units from mars, he offered me a discount before I even asked for one. (I’m finding that that’s the kind of great guy he is. Just ask TAZ.) Because my three IR sights could be packaged together, the cost of tracked and insured shipping was greatly reduced, and mars passed along those savings to me in the form of a substantial discount.
So I was thinking maybe some of you marines out there who want these sights might consider getting together for a group order. One person could be the “point man” or “point woman” for others in your area. If mars were to ship several units together to one location, I bet he would be willing to offer a big discount that would considerably reduce the price of individual units. Try asking him. He’s very easy to work with!
Thanks again, mars, for delivering the piece I’ve been wanting for YEARS! :love :thumbsup
