If you take a good look at the pieces that are in my pass kit, you'll notice that there are two main pieces that are duplicates. The top and bottom plate are identical. However, on the finished prop, this is not the case. What's the deal? Well, when I went to get my kit laser cut, the price varies drastically based on the complexity of the parts, and the number of parts. I realized that there were only minor differences between the top plate and the bottom plate, so I made the decision to get them cut identically, with the intention of fixing the differences later.

That time is now.

So, in this step, I make two modifications to the top plate, and attach the LED housing rectangle.

The first modification involves removing a small triangle from the top plate. The second mod is to cut a hole in the plate for the LED. Because the kit includes a laser cut led housing, precision is really not important in the cutting of this hole. If you cut the hole to small, it's easy to enlarge it. If you use the template included with the kit, you'll have to REALLy screw it up to make it too big. The only danger is that you make the hole too big, so better to start small and expand slowly. The hole can be lopsided, or not have smooth edges. It won't matter once you put the housing over it.

	First I'm going to remove the triangle from the top plate of the pass. This piece will come from the rectangle that is attached to the lower arm, on the inside opening of the pass. (Confusing, ain't it??) For the steps on this page, you're going to need some tools and supplies. Grab the following items: Pass top plate Cutting template Straight edge or metal ruler Exacto, box knife or razor blade Pencil or pen Two sided tape. (Staples or office max)
	Place some two sided tape down on your template. I happen to use the kind that has a peel off backing, but yours may not. Not a problem. You can probably also use something like elmers glue, rubber cement, or some other low tack adhesive.
	When your tape is in place, or glue is set, place the top plate gently on the template so that it precisely fits over the grey drawing on the template. Precision is key in this step. If you screw it up, peel the plate off and do it again. That's why I like to use the two sided tape instead of glue, mind you.
	Take a moment to read over the instructions on the template, and be sure you are using the right line as your cutting template. You're going to cut along the diagonal line that cuts through the pass. Place your ruler on top of the pass, and line it up with the line on the paper. Eyeball it as precisely as possible. Make sure that you are looking down on the pass at a 90 degree angle. if you're off to the side, you may line up your ruler incorrectly.
	Now that your ruler is lined up, hold it firmly in place while making a cut with your exacto blade. Do not press down too hard with the knife. Your first cut should be shallow and smooth. Too much pressure on the knife and you may slip and make a mistake. Be sure that your blade is pressed firmly up against the ruler, and that your cut is following the template lines. Make a series of cuts, each one deeper than the next. After a few cuts, you can take the ruler away and continue to cut. The cut itself will act as a guide.
	Look closely at this picture, and you'll see that the triangle has been removed. Great work!
	Using the same technique described above for lining up your ruler with the lines on the template, draw in the two horizontal lines on the top plate of the pass.
	Then draw in the two vertical lines. Obviously, you can do this in any order and still get the same results.
	At this point, I have marked in the four lines that are on the template. You can see how they form a small rectangle on the top plate.
	To make the process easier to explain, I have colored the area to be removed blue for this photo. Fire up the exacto knife!
	I've removed the top plate from my template, and I use an exacto knife to remove the styrene that I marked off earlier. When in doubt, do a test fit with the LED that is included with the kit. As long as the LED can fit through the opening you're making, you're good to go. Too small is bad, but if it's a tad too big, no worries.
	Here are the results of our labor so far. The rectangle for the LED is removed, as is the triangle for the graphics.
	Attaching the top plate to the main body is the next step. Because the alignment can be a bit tricky, I do this in two steps. Here, I apply glue liberally to the body of the top plate, but not the arms. Cover every surface with glue. When the glue is one, line up the chain hole and the button hole, then drop it into place. You'll need to work quickly if there's any fudging to be done. Don't press the two pieces together until the alignment is set. If the glue sets up before you are in place, use an exacto to pry the top plate off, lightly sand it down, and try again.
	Plastruct glue dries really fast, so after the body is set, I lift up the arms and brush some glue to the underside of the arms. When they snap in place, I squeeze them to get the glue to set up properly.
	I use Plastruct glue to attach the LED housing. Put the glue on the housing itself, NOT the pass body. This will help you to keep control of the glue.
	Here's the finished product so far. The newly modified top plate is attached, and the led housing is in place.