Sandtrooper - backpack nearly done & getting dirty

With the E6000 setting on parts, i thought i'd just show where i am on other parts. The packpack is nearly done. Again, i'm indebted to Nathan over on the UK Garrison, both his tutorial (esp on how to fix the mortar tube to the frame) and his advice and all-round Good Bloke-ness. All i've got to do here is fill the 5 small pipes with material (again, cheers for the pointers there Nath) and the gubbins to the mortar pipe. You can also see here i've attached the canvas MP40 pouches to the left-hand strap. The other thing that's been busying me is i've started on weathering the armour. I've chosen to go with the back plate first as: (A) If i mess it up, it'll be hidden mostly by the backpack, right? (B) If there's a serious buildup of much, figure it'd be there, shoved down between the back and the frame. So, i've been having a play with Burnt and Raw umber, experimenting with various degrees of "strengths" of the paints and how they interact with each other. The darkest areas on the back plate, i doubt i'll be repicating elsewhere. The rest though, i'm pretty happy with. I want my Trooper to have been stationed on Tatooine a LONG time and his armour to reflect that - sort of like Davin Felth, the muckiest of the Troopers seen in "A New Hope". The plan is to gain experience as i weather the parts, building up lastly to the helmet - really the focus on any suit? Anyway, i'm happiest with the kidney plate, which the rest of the suit most probabaly will be similar to. These first three pieces i was kinda nervous about doing, but i'll be detailing the rather odd way of how to go about it in my next post. Here's a clue: