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Weird things you say when you're a costumer: Oh hello, butt plate... I haven't seen you in a while... The good news is I was able to fix the holster pretty easily- it came off without much trouble, and with no damage other than some glue to scrape off. It went back on about the same as it did the first time- a huge pain and four plus hands needed to really do it. At least this time I hadn’t been painting so there weren’t any paint smears to worry about. I scraped and rubbed off excess glue in various places. My thumbs feel rubbed raw from all the rubbing and picking at glue. It reminds me of Peter Jackson saying they had so much chain mail made for the LOTR films, that the guys that did it just about rubbed off their fingerprints on a couple of fingers from linking it all together. I did a bit of fine sanding on a couple of edges, checked on seams and inner strips, basically gave everything a once over. Touched up a trim or two. Doesn’t look like much but will make a difference in the end. One of the shin spats had shifted during gluing, and the seam was huge, so I pulled it apart and re-glued it. Annoying, but just another symptom of how my week is going. I checked it again before I went to bed and it stayed in place this time. The belt boxes still honestly confuse me, but I’m just going to send them all off to the chromer/painter and then figure them out later. In my review and digging through the pile of parts, I found that I had forgotten about the upper boot spats- they weren't the right shape out of the box. They're supposed to be rounded, mine are just straight. This is a pretty early KB kit, so it's entirely possible they've worked out some of these things and quirks in the newer versions (they've had at least two versions since mine, not sure after that). So I marked it up and trimmed them real quick. I used the first off-cut to mark the next ones. Well look at that... she's actually fully assembled... And yet, she looks not a whole lot different than she did in a huge pile of parts form BBB Day. Now it's time to get all the dust and grime off from being in the garage for all this time. (My town is a dusty place on a good day, and the garage is terrible, no matter how many times I use the blower to clean it out). The weird things you do as a costumer: Bath time for Phasma! I figured the bathtub was the most efficient way to clean off all the parts. I was going to just take the hose to it, but outside has dirt and grit and dust. And cobwebs. Because I stop cleaning those up in September because I can just call them “Halloween decorations” for the next two months. I did the helmet clean up by hand- I don’t think fiberglass would react badly to water, but I’m not taking any chances with dropping it, for one. I’ve taken water to ABS before with issues. She's now drying off across my guest bathroom... which amuses me more than it should. And that’s… that’s actually it. She’s ready. I can’t believe I’m saying those words- but she is, she’s ready for chroming!

Hey there! I cleaned up this graphic a little bit, as the edits were a little rough, and I added a "Revised 2019" text to it, so it's a bit more obvious to all which one is being looked at. Anyone is welcome to use it.

Because of the curve I would rough up the inside area with coarse sandpaper then apply resin and fibreglass matting, it will conform to the shape better than adding strips of ABS and glue behind. You could then fill the outside cracks with abs paste https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/42866-how-to-make-abs-paste/

Still tweaking things. Added a wireless mic and sewed on my new garrison patch! Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Perhaps Backstage Props will be the saviour for some. They’re shipping out kits now. Needs work but it’s looking pretty sharp. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I like snaps to connect them, for the very reason you mention. If you have non-detachable attachments on both sides, you'll never be able to separate the parts. I positioned the snaps on regular snap plates between the rivets. The rivets can be just for show... they don't have to be functional in any way. You can even use Velcro there, if you wanted. (I doubt you want to, considering the effort you're putting in, but just to illustrate the point) I used 2" webbing going straight up the seam, with multiple snaps on each side. This forces the halves to stay aligned, and doesn't allow much, if any, vertical play, so it can't get uneven. I used the same concept on both sides (left and right). A single strap (or even 3) going from one side to the other was inadequate to keep things aligned nicely, on my burger-loving body.

I agree with what you say here Dan. The fine line is that the CRL's are designed for base level entry. The higher levels were an afterthought brought about on FISD to enhance the look of FX armour which was the only available kit back then. Centurion itself came later on in the piece. The reason DO's have been using screen references has always been more about those higher levels and showing applicants how to look more accurate for those levels so what better reference to use. We are not the RPF, not everyone buys the same armour make, and we are doing our best not to look elitist as we have been labeled in the past. Yes the best representation for a CRL image would be a screen used photo or screen capture but the more we do that at a basic level, the more we remove the 501st element from the picture. Look at what is happening to merch now, do we really want to go down the same path offering no flexibility to members who have zero interest in aiming for the top. Don't get me wrong, I love screen accurate, but I as always there is a bigger picture and I do try and think laterally about that.

The buttons have been installed. And belt is coming along. Just realized I am 2 rivets short to complete the belt drop boxes. Although I seem to recall CAP rivets being mentioned by someone in another thread so it's possible I may be able to finish the belt up. The backs of the thighs are also setting as I type this. I'm getting so close. Sent from my sorrosuub C1 comm link device using Tapatalk