So, I've been absolutely losing my mind about how to design my backpack. I'm going with a fairly large flamethrower as my primary weapon (about the size of an M249 machine gun), and the idea was that I'd have a backpack instead of a jetpack. That way, I can build a fuel canister that would hold my Camelbak water supply and a hollow compartment to put my inevitable convention swag in. I've even got a really cool design that I totally didn't (I did) rip off from a miniatures game line, that I'm gonna bang together with a clone trooper backpack and see what falls out. I bought an ALICE frame for a song from my neighborhood surplus store, and I've got the dye to make all the straps black to match my flight suit. The problem is, now I have no idea how to attach the kriffing thing to myself once it's built. I've seen all kinds of pictures of you guys's armor, but how do I attach what's going to be a reasonably heavy backpack to me, and not have the shoulder straps show? Is that even a problem? Can I have shoulder straps visible outside my armor?
BTW, I've figured out how to get the "gut belt" to attach under my armor, that's super thin and I just reckoned I'd stick my abdomen plate over it and nobody would ever see it.
Edit: I'm looking at some of the Sandtrooper packs, and several of the 501st guys have their backpack straps clearly visible, but they're dyed to match the black of the undersuit. Am I losing my mind about something that isn't even an issue? That'd be just like me.