I just finished mine and did my first troop in it, and I got to say yes it was kind of a pain to put together but with patience and help from my brothers on here it was worth every dollar I spent and every hour I put in to it. Not only does it look great it feels even better to wear for long troops, it is so light it almost felt like I had nothing on compared to my don post. I did have to get a new nose and decals the ones they sent with the kit were way off, and I used elevator bolts for the sides because they sent furniture slides for the bolt covers yeah I said furniture slides. LOL