ScarifBeachBum

Good idea about the Level 2. That still will enable more people to do this if they have another variation they want to swap between.

Sorry if I came off that way, Mike. This is my first time helping research a CRL. Thanks for the work that you put in to make this happen!

Thanks for shepherding this across the finish line and thanks to @MikeRadness for putting in the work to get this done!

I wasn't taking issue with the grime but rather the heavy "chocolate chip" weathering that seems inconsistent with what we've seen on screen (and behind the scenes) for Niamos Shoretroopers. That's all that I meant by "pristine." I understand that Mike did this to be consistent with his Grunt kit, but it does not accurately represent the kind of weathering we have seen on screen for this.

Agreed. I think you're right that the channel is Sahara Beige, but the side is painted. I had a hard time telling if you had the sides of the channel painted in that photo. I think the thing that threw me off was how wide the side channels are on that kit.

The blue stripe on this is wrong. The only place where the Sahara Beige intersects it is in the middle (unlike the Specialist Shoretrooper.) I got that from both photos and the Black Series figure. Also, the weathering seems to be a bit heavy for Niamos Shoretroopers which are nearly pristine other than some dirt.

Slowly but surely it is coming together. I need to finish painting the left shoulder bell (I screwed up and painted the whole thing Sahara Beige) and touch up some paint on one of the forearms. I need to paint the undercoat on the belt boxes (not shown), thermal detonators, and the kidney plates. Then I have to prime and fill the helmet, backplate, and rear belt cover. I just need to print the pistol. All soft parts are ready to go. Only question I have is on weathering. The photos look like there is some but not a lot of weathering. It also looks like the weathering is kind of grey, almost like from sea salt. Any thoughts on that?

Latest update. Sanding, priming, painting, printing, etc. Coming along slowly but surely. I still need to print the pistol (already bought the files). Other than that, everything is printed and in the process of being finished. (Belt boxes on the belt are being replaced with upgraded ones.)

Still chugging away with sanding and priming. I'll be gone for the next two weeks, though, so new updates will come mid-July. Hope to be showing a lot of progress by then.

Thanks! Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been traveling for work and family matters the last few weeks but I'm back in the game. Printing Nico's helmet this weekend. Then I'm starting printing the pistol. Everything else is printed and most of it is sanded and primed. I'll be providing more updates soon.

Holster just arrived from Dark Side Closet.

Everything has been sanded multiple times, most pieces have been filled and primed, but still need another sanding then undercoat paint and then the Sahara Beige. Some pieces have been fully painted, though, as you can see with my test using Polar Blue. I bought the files to 3D print the pistol and I'm buying Nico's helmet files to print that as well. I already have the Orca Bay boots and all the soft parts. I've ordered the holster from Dark Side Closet. It should all be coming together fairly quickly.

Not sure if you've already noted this, but the Niamos Squad Leader does not have the shotgun shells or the oiler pouch on its hip plates (I know that you do not list those on the draft CRL, so I realize that you have noticed it.) I guess that's one of the reasons why it can be pulled up higher since those are not present on it. I just opened up my Black Series figure as well to check the back and neither of those are on it as well.

I also just noticed that on the Black Series figure the inset on the chest is painted Sahara Beige as well while on the other Black Series figures the indent is black.

Okay, I was able to paint a shoulder bell and chest armor today with the Polar Blue and it looks like a match. I have photos of it in the direct sun and in the shade / indoors. I also painted the indent Sahara Beige as we saw in the photos. To the naked eye, this looks nearly white / grey outside in the sun. The camera makes it look a little more blue here.

I'm getting the .stl files to print the sidearm and I've got someone that I can work with on the holster.

Here are several more that appear to show the indent on the chest armor is Sahara Beige and not black on the Niamos Squad Leader.

I have a bunch of photos that I've downloaded, but right now I've having problems uploading them here. I'm going to see about a workaround.

Looks like the recess area on the chest armor of the Niamos variant isn't black, but is Sahara Beige like the rest of the armor. Probably just an oversight when the prop department was painting it.

Been doing some additional research on this. Looks like I was right in regards to the black stripes on the left shoulder bell of the Niamos Squad Leader being the same width.

Just picked up the Polar Blue. Hope to actually paint with it this weekend. If it looks anything like this once it goes on, I think we're really cooking. In the lighting in the first picture, it looks almost white with a hint of blue which would be spot on.

If anyone is looking for Montana Gold Polar Blue, you can order it through Blick. I have gotten most of my Montana Gold from their physical store in Washington, D.C., but have ordered it online from them as well. https://www.dickblick.com/items/montana-gold-acrylic-professional-spray-paint-polar-blue-400-ml-can-/

When you say thigh armor, do you mean the hip plates? I was already looking at the sidearm and holster. Store that I go to has 2 cans of Polar Blue in stock and they're holding one for me.

I just enlarged the different reference photos here of the left shoulder bell on my computer monitor so they were the same size as one of the Sean Fields shoulder bells and then I did some measuring. On this Niamos variant, it looks like the top and bottom black stripes are the same width. I measured the following from the bottom up: Sahara Beige - 2 cm from the bottom at each end, 3 cm from the bottom at midpoint (this creates a straight line across due to the angled bottom of the bell) Bottom Black Stripe - 1 cm or 3/8" Middle White Stripe - 3.5 cm or 1 3/8" Top Black Stripe - 1 cm or 3/8" The remainder above that would be Polar Blue (or whatever other light pastel blue one uses.) I think that I might scratch either my Captain or Specialist build and convert one of those into the Niamos variant. I'm hoping this art supply store that I get my Montana Gold paints from has Polar Blue when I go tomorrow.

Polar Blue looks like the color closest to white/gray while still remaining in the blue range that there is for Montana Gold. (Technically, Marble shows up when you search the Blick Art Supplies website for Montana Gold blues, but I agree it is in the gray range.) So, this costume will be known as "Shoretrooper: Niamos Squad Leader"?