March 2011

Well thank f*** the weather has finally warmed up a fair bit and we've even had sunshine. Infact i was out and about yesterday without a jacket or jersey so here's hoping Spring is finally on its way. Even the flowers are coming out. As you can gather i'm not a winter person, i hate it.

This month has seen a return to good, reliable skirmish/filming weather and the Zeltbahn video i mentioned has been put up on YT and looking pretty good. I'll do another one at a later date and talk about joining several Zeltbahns to create tents etc.

I've recently managed to secure sponsorship from a clothing company called Skirmish Clothing who make casual street wear for airsofters. Currently they produce a range of t-shirts but are bringing out hoodies, baseball caps etc to compliment the range. A great idea for airsofters who want to wear casual clothes but retain an element of airsoft culture without having to walk around in their skirmish clothing.

Look out for a competition sponsored by Skirmish Clothing appearing on my channel very soon.

New WWII German kit

2011 not only sees the Airsoft Grenadier channel achieving YouTube Partnership and me being given control of the Players of War Airsoft channel but also an overhaul of my WWII German loadout which i had worn faithfully for 2 years worth of skirmishes and carried into battle either my AGM MP40 or my AGM MP44 (STG44). I thought it was time for a change so over recent months i've gradually sold off all my previous uniform items and my two German weapons. This year i've so far updated the uniform by purchasing a new Waffen SS tunic in summer 'Reed Green' HBT fabric and new Panzer trousers in Italian camouflage pattern. There is normally confusion and argument relating to unissued items of uniform worn by German troops. Basically when the Italian armed forces surrendered to the Allies the Germans seized the Italian warehouses filled with camouflage material and used it to produce clothing articles ranging from trousers and tunics down to helmet covers. Its a well documented fact and many many photographs exist which show this to be fact. there is also argument about German troops wearing tunics made out of Oakleaf or Plane tree camo patterns. Again these were tailored in the field rather than issued with standard uniform and again there are genuine photographs and surviving items of clothing which show this to be fact. You wouldn't believe the abusive comments some of my loadout videos have attracted because armchair experts have never seen Oakleaf tunics whilst they've played Call of Duty or watched Saving Private Ryan. By the late stages of the war the German troops HAD to manufacture clothing in the field from whatever sources they could as the Allied bombing campaigns were devastating the home font and supply chain.

I've also noticed that among the number of airsofters who buy Zeltbahns, no-one ever uses them! They are bought for roughly £40 and then strapped to a belt and never worn. I wonder how many airsofters actually know how to use them properlly as a poncho or shelter? So there's the idea for a new video using my new Zeltbahn which will probably be filmed in the next few weeks; how to use a Zeltbahn. As i've said they can be used as ponchos and small shelters but when they are joined together with other Zeltbahns they can actually be used to construct stretchers, flotation aids and tents of varying size depending on how many seperate Zelts' are used.

My new WWII weapon, which i love, is my Hexagon Productions PPSH41. Its far more relaible and performs way better than any gun i've ever owned. I'll therefore be loosly portraying an Eastern Front German with captured Soviet weapon and a couple of Soviet pouches which i stripped from my Russian victim. Look out for future videos on new kit guys!

Keep checking the Blog for further announcements and news and look out for those new videos.

Keith

Tachyon XC Helmet Camera

The video taken with the Tachyon XC helmet camera seems pretty popular, even with the motor on my PPSH41 overpowering the little speaker on the camera. Rather than mount it on a helmet i opted for mounting it onto the gun and giving the look of a first person shooter game. I honestly thought my viewers would tell me it was crap and that they enjoy the normal skirmish videos much more. Looks like i'll be making many more videos with the Tachyon!!

Machinima.com

February has turned out to be a very interesting month. First of all, about a week ago, i get an email out of the blue from Machinima.com offering me a 'Partnership' with them. To be honest i'd never heard of them as i've no interest in video games but once i'd checked them out i was impressed and quite frankly flattered by their offer. I decided now was the time to try out for YouTube Partnership as the Machinima offer made me think i must be doing quite well with the channel. To my surprise i was accepted for full partnership rather than just enabling a few of my videos for revenue sharing. This means i'm now a full YT Partner and can enable revenue on all my videos. Great news as my channel goes from mere hobby status to potential busines venture. So where does that leave Machinima?

Machinima work on what i'd describe as a franchise basis where you basically join their network and they put adverts on your videos. They give you a set fee for the ads but they keep all revenue generated from people actually clicking the ads and from any advertising on your channel page. Something that YT don't do. I get all the revenue from YT advertising campaigns. The stats that my channel has would also be dissolved into the Machinima network so they basically consider my subscribers and overall video views as part of THEIR stats and advertise them as such. It was flattering to be contacted by them but the offer seems heavily weighted in their favour with little kick back for me. Lets face it, the channel they wanted to feature me on only has an average of 2000 video views per upload, something i've bettered with my 18,000 subscribers compared to ther 200,000+ subscribers. It would also appear that despite claiming millions of subscribers that they don't even rank among the top YouTube Partners with regards to earnings. Why is that?

The Airsoft Grenadier channel has finally made partner status so i'm sure you'll appreciate how happy i am with that. It means that once a few $'s or £'s come my way i can invest further into the channel and reward my subscribers with more and more great videos. Hopefully i'll be able to get my hands on new equipment and props to enhance the video experience and who knows, perhaps a sensible retailer or two will have the common sense to throw some airsoft kit my way for review. Lets face it, no U.K airsoft retailer has bothered to invest properlly in the business potential of YouTube. The U.S retailers seem to have grasped its potential so its about time the U.K caught up a bit faster and broadened their horizons a little.

This coming Sunday is a POW gameday so watch out for videos coming along on both my channels guys.

Best
Keith

February 2011

Time flies past very quickly! I can't believe we are into February already but at least the awful snow we had has gone and spring doesn't feel too far off now. There's even talk of an upcoming WWII MilSim at POW. Well since the last Blog entry i got a video review of my Hexagon Productions PPsh-41 up on YouTube and i've also got a couple more videos up on the POW YouTube channel. The POW channel has had great artwork done to it by my pal Icarus Stu who many will know from watching scouts videos on YouTube. The channel itself seems to be doing very well and already has over 400 subscribers....

 http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayersofWar

Since my last Blog my own Airsoft Grenadier channel has broken through the 600K video views and achieved just short of 18K subscribers at the time of writting this. It looks like being a successful year with YouTube. The new German winter jacket i bought myself was fantastic in the snow. With the white jacket and white helmet it proved very effective in the snow and very warm. Once the snow melted i simply turned it to the grey side out and it proves to be quite effective in our wet, muddy and dark forest at POW. I cannot believe how awesome my PPsh is! I have been using an 8.4v battery giving it a lower and more realistic rate of fire, the drum mag last for ages when you shoot rather than spray, single shot is very reliable and the range on both single shot and full auto is fantastic, well in excess of 60 metres and this is without any upgrades at all. I love this gun and can't see me ever wanting to get rid of it. Its also very easy to look after. I found myself laughing at all the kid experts commenting on scouts latest video, which has me in my Eastern Front loadout with the PPsh, and reading the arguments about whether or not the Germans used the PPsh. Its a FACT children, well documented and widely known. The Germans loved them and even produced German written manuals on how to look after them. CoD has a lot to answer for!! Its a POW weekend this week so watch out for videos on both channels and photos up on the POW Facebook Fanpage.

Take care!
Keith

Happy New Year 2011

So did everyone have a great christmas/new year holiday?

The weather kept me off work for just over a month in total and also led to two POW game dates being cancelled which was a total bummer. It means serious withdrawl from being able to skirmish and absolutely no material to upload to YouTube. On a positive note though we had a POW Christmas night out for the WWII German players which was great fun; lots of drink and many many good laughs. we have a game date on January 9th so here's hoping the weather remains good enough that we can travel to the site and get a good skirmish and lots of film and photographs.

I got a new WWII German winter jacket which is field grey and reversible to white for the snow and i also got a new Oakleaf Zeltbahn which i can add to my loadout. I was also given the boxed set 'The Pacific' which i watched back to back and loved. Its a fantastic series with amazing combat scenes and i really enjoyed the in-depth portrayal of the true life characters in the series. If i had the money i'd be tempted to go for a full USMC Pacific loadout!!

Since i've been stuck at home i've been planning what videos i want to make for the new POW Youtube channel so i can't wait to get out there and begin filming. At the moment i've only got a teaser video on the channel to generate some early interest and i've already got just under 100 subscribers and nearly 2000 views on that 1 video. Here's hoping the channel will be as successful as early indications promise. The Airsoft Grenadier channel is also doing very well as i'm just about to reach 17,000 subscribers and am on my way to 600,000 video views overall. My most successful video has well over 100,000 views on its own. I was very flattered to see how many of my fellow Youtube airsofters gave me personal messages on their youtube channels wishing me a happy new year so i'm now thinking of returning the favour and doing a video to thank my youtube friends and give them all a mention. It's not something i normally do but it seems quite a popular means of contact and networking for youtubers. Early videos to look out for will be a PPSH41 review and skirmish videos for The Airsoft Grenadier and also some skirmish and possibly player interviews on the Players of War channel. All these videos will hopefully be along sometime in January, weather permitting. We're expecting more heavy snow in Scotland soon!!

Happy New Year folks

All the best in 2011

Keith

More Snow

The heavy snowfall in Scotland is still with us and has had a bad effect on everyones life here with people unable to work, drive, get public transport, power cuts etc etc. We have a POW weekend coming up this week and judging by the state of the roads very few people will be able to attend if the site can open so given the fact i've literally been stuck at home for nearly two weeks now i've not got much to tell you guys, unless you're interested in my new toy that is?

I've bought myself a new PPSH41 by Hexagon Productions which cost me £279 and will be my primary weapon for my new WWII German loadout in 2011. I'll be wearing either an SS or Wermacht loadout from the Eastern Front with a captured Soviet weapon. So would you guys like to see a video review of the PPSH41 in full HD format, hmmm?