Thanks Keith. Appreciate the encouragement.
Here's an update adding the Cod/AB section:
I painted the rubber using acrylic paints. I was having a tough time painting the rubber with different spray paints. Finally after cleaning it off and starting over, I lightly sanded the surface of the rubber with fine grit sand paper and then applied the acrylic paint (silver and a black wash over it after drying). Instead of a brush however, I used a cloth soaked with the paint and rubbed it into the rubber. It adhered immediately and dried very quickly. The result was a very robust coating and holds very well.
Will it scrape off? Probably but not overly concerned because this area will not get a lot of exposure to bangs/bumps etc..like the hands, forearms, shins and feet will. I also applied a layer of foam to the inside of the chest plate to prevent any additional rubbing. I wore it around the house a bit with the chest plate and nothing happened to the paint so fingers crossed.
I attached the buckle/pouches and canister by screwing right through the rubber into the piece from the back. I used two screws for each piece. These are not coming off thats for sure. To prevent stress on the pouches and canister I added a large rivet and washer to each side through the rubber and then another right after it with a nylon webbing strap from the back. This will keep all the stress off these external parts and keep the belt on there nice and solid. The belt was an old thick canvas belt from a consignment shop. Its canvas so acrylics also worked well with it. This was painted gray.