Just finished mine a couple weeks ago. The fire blanket i had laying around from a forge shop I work at. You can get them online. it lays flat on the aluminum heat shield.
I found only two small issues during my build. one of the hidden corner brackets was not tapped. If you have a 4m tap, that's easy enough. i did not and Colin sent me a new one. the other issue was the belt length. I cut the first part to the correct length. When it came to put the belt on the x carriage, it was almost too short. I had no room for error and it took me quite a while to get it on the screw post.
This is my second makerfarm printer. I have a 10" that is awesome!. Colin is great with the answers and quick to get back to you.

I also added an auto bed leveler to the printer. The new Manual Bed leveling that is in the marlin software is great, but i prefer my prints to get there own bed measurements for every print. it only adds about 90 seconds to the print.

Take your time with the build, make sure you have put in ALL the hidden nuts that the instruction say to. I forgot one and had to disassemble the frame to add it back in.

Enjoy!

Youngjedi