That does look great. They just want a little too much for that grille to convince me to swap from my lariat sport

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...6bbaf0a969.jpg
Did mine today

I think the 2018 grills are the best looking stock grills Ford has made in a long time, I upgraded mine from the plain black plastic to the matching paint scheme, huge improvement IMO.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...857f210577.jpg

Yours was paintable, you could have just gotten it painted, mine was the textured black plastic and not really meant to be painted, all they did was take the one like yours and paint it for me.

Keep your eyes on the classified. Nice grills become available every so often. I'm looking for a 2018 Limited grill.

I know what you are talking about, my truck had the plain black plastic grill, I looked at the colored one and the painted parts are separate verniers that overlay the grill, they can not be bought separately from what I found so I had to replace the grill, bummer.

I want this look... what steps and materials needed?

Maybe look into body work to fill in the "nostrils" and create the double grille look with the XLT sport grille? Finish off with color match?

I could have painted my stock xlt one yes but it would not be the same as the one I put on it.. there are no "nostrils" in the one I put on it. Getting lots of compliments at work from friends.