Hey Jon! To say the assembly process has been enjoyable is an understatement! I cannot impress upon people how precisely the parts align together after cutting, it's like putting together a Snap-Tite model kit!
Feel free to drop in any progress images as you go along, just as long as folks bare in mind that the modifications I am making to this kit will be slightly different than yours, with nip and tucks throughout to correspond with my physique and individual quirks LOL.
This weekend I have been concentrating on the arms. Though, today I will be primarily updating with the trimming proceedure of the handplates.
I spent roughly two hours a piece on the handplates, and the time and effort was entirely worth it. Initiallly, they are somewhat difficult to assess. I took a pencil and very carefully plotted my trim lines. Which in fact, I used my dremel with a sanding spool (with 80grit equivilant courseness) to cut away excess plastic. I used varying dremel speeds, very CAREFULLY to shape the pieces. Once the initial work was done, I used 80 grit sandpaper to clean up the newly trimmed/dremmled areas. Then, I proceeded to use a file, to set the final desired contours and nuances (on the underside edges) as per reference.
I then sanded the entire handplates with 220, then washed with warm water and dried both pieces. Finally, I sprayed both handplates with two super light coats of white Tamiya Fine Primer:
Left handplate, prior to trimming:
Left hand plate, next to finished right handplate:
Right handplate: note the angular nuances, filed into shape:
Both hanplates finished and sanded with 220 grit:
Left handplate:
Both handplates primed, and ready for multi-layer paint process. I will be sanding the primer coats, prior to applying the first under color coat:
I am totally stoked on the final result of these handplates. They are simply the best have ever worked with.