HAT TRICK , I appreciate the time that you are taking with me on getting started. As you can probably tell I think half the fun of the hobby is the journey that you take to get competitive, and with me scratch building has always been part of it . It would seem a hollow victory to win with someone elses' creation. I am not saying that I haven't made a career out of stealing other peoples' ideas though. But it is still fun for me to compile the best ideas and then try to come up with my own version. Getting back to the ''how to " stuff, how do I apply the rip stop nylon to the foam? Water based polyurethane? I would greatly appreciate any of you combat gurus to chime in on how to do this.