I bought one over the weekend at Toys R US for $40. Without batteries it's pretty light. The gun by itself uses 6 D batteries, before any mods. I'd say the box was probably about 4 to 5 lbs.
I like it! It gives me some ideas for my next custom blaster
The good:
The barrel lights are a nifty idea
The left side light panel is sweet
I like the heat sinks on the barrel
The bad (more like the picky):
The right side light panel requires too many batteries. You could probably use a single RC plane NiMH battery pack to the same effect and it would be rechargeable.
Maybe too many heatsinks over the rest of the gun? Could scratch armor if one isn't too careful?
Overall, great job sir!
That's really not too surprising. I have 2 APH-6 helmets that don't quite look alike either. The first one is an APH-6c that was made by Gentex and the second is an APH-6d that was made by Sierra Engineering. Both follow the spec and military requirements, but there are subtle differences. Sterling probably used different sub-contractors over the life cycle of the production.
I lightly sanded with the 1600 grit, washed, let dry, and painted using Rustoleum for plastic, no primer needed. If I do it again, I'll put a base of aluminum/silver down first so any natural "weathering" from use shows through.