Retrofire

Well done! My modeller's eye notices Vallejo and Tamaya weathering pallets there. Good choice! I agree with @AradunFF in that you've come up with some really creative solutions for your strapping nicely done indeed!

Congrats Jake!!

This is really nice weathering! @Chopper has a lot of experience with the sand/dirt weathering and is a fantastic resource and I'll defer to him but overall it looks good to me. One thing that you will need to do is to paint the rectangular area grey as indicated in the CRL: There is a recessed rectangular area present over the right breast that is painted a medium to dark gray. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this build come together once your remaining items come in. Keep up the excellent work and please let us know if we can be of service to you.

Couldn’t have a better person congrats Justin!!

I was just great to see everybody and I was encouraged to see such a great amount of questions and interaction. Don't’ forget that the det exists to serve YOU the members and we’re here for you so keep those great questions and posts coming!

Make sure you check with your command staff/GMLs to make sure it's ok. I live in AZ and I wear the vest every time as it's part of the costume and it imparts a certain look but you got to look out for your health as that's paramount.

I think your best bet would be to go with the same thickness of your holster plastic. It’s going to cause the holster to “bump” out a little from your boot but it shouldn’t be too noticeable and folks are looking at your face more than your holster. Make the backup piece at least twice the size of the area you’re repairing and allow the Devcon to set and cure for a least a day or more before drilling a pilot hole for the rivet.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Every Journey starts with the first step. In the words of Obi-Wan “you’ve taken a first step into a larger world”.

Right on target!! Good job and we're looking forward to seeing this continue once you get off shift and some good rest underneath you!

Desert trooper here:) I would recommend the cotton for the bund where you can especially if temps are expected to rise. You're going to have 4 layers on your top half with the flightsuit, vest, bund and armor so that area tends to get rather overheated compared to the rest.

A power sander may be the way to start to do the rough sanding then move to hand for the clean up work. Just be sure to keep a closer eye on the surfaces when using a power sander to ensure you don't overdo it.

Andy is dead on! Recommend a dust mask at the minimum and eye protection to keep grit/dust out of your eyes. As a long time modeller working with resins and plastics you want to protect yourself.

This right here is why we love M.J. Sadly @spike sold his moulds off and just has buckets now. I have one of his buckets and I love it. Hey @M.J correct me if I'm wrong but weren't you and @Chopper talking about another armor vendor that is in Australia? The age is catching up with me too😅

Yep I was just writing about the same thing when Choppers reply came though. I would recommend that you listen to Chopper as he's the real deal. Relax take a step back and breathe my dude. It's all good. You got plenty of time before your suit comes in so take it slow and easy. Rushing it is only going to stress you and make you more prone to mistakes.

@M.J Jedi Master of the needle and thread can you help this fine trooper? Welcome to the Pathfinders Sean! We’re here to help you be successful so please let us know if we can be of help.

Ok cool. I just wanted to touch base with you to make sure you didn’t need anything. Life and family always comes first my friend! We’ll be here when you’re ready so take your time.

Hi Chris. Hey I wanted to reach out and see if you need any clarification on the app process or if you need anything. We're always here for you if you should need anything just let us know.

Thanks for reaching out Pathfinder! As Chopper mentioned we're always here should you need anything.

Oh for sure. You need to do what's best for you and more importantly for your feet. Keeping your feet comfortable on a long troop is critically important so I can't recommend keeping your feet happy strongly enough.

I finally just decided to not use any laces and it's been fine for me and a bit easier to dress. With the vinyl so tight across the foot the boots don't go anywhere.

Looking forward to a fantastic 2022 bringing kindness and new Pathfinders into the fold. It's always a pleasure to work with such a great team!

Easy stuff to fix up. I was a GML for my garrison for many years and the CRL is both pictures and words so they use both to make a determination regarding approvals. I think painting your traps was a fantastic idea and it looks SO much better than the stickers. I threw out the sticker for my chest armor cutout on my biker scout and painted it Humbrol Grey too. Nice work getting that knocked out! Looking forward to seeing this get approved.

I think it's great you're going for serious accuracy here. I would like to point out that using the wire wrap will add a considerable amount of weight to your TD so you'll want to beef up the connections to the belt. I used the clips and I added a pair of rare earth magnets on the belt side and TD side to help lock it in firm. Best of luck with your build!