I like the aesthetics and very clean especially considering your second build. Well done.

Very nice! I try not to fret about my misaligned guides, and would encourage you to forget about them too. You didn't bump your stripping guide; the gremlins got to it:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57834&p=278815&hilit=gremlins#p278815

I think the slight cant towards your stripping hand might turn out to be a functional advantage.

Awesome job! Looks great!

Thanks all for the kind words. There are some excellent builders on here, and I spent a lot of time looking through photos to get an idea of what I wanted. I'm grateful to have the chance to learn something more, and stepping up to the trim wraps was a fun exercise for sure. When I first started them, I could barely keep them together without unraveling--I must have done a dozen tries for one wrap early on. Now, it's just smooth, quick, and finished in just one go.

Now, I need to stop dreaming of another build and get out to fish this thing. We've had a harder winter than usual (or a return to normal winter, depending on how you look at it), so the snow in the yard is several feet deep and the rivers have some serious shelf ice. Maybe soon, though, east of the divide.

Thanks all for the kind words. There are some excellent builders on here, and I spent a lot of time looking through photos to get an idea of what I wanted. I'm grateful to have the chance to learn something more, and stepping up to the trim wraps was a fun exercise for sure. When I first started them, I could barely keep them together without unraveling--I must have done a dozen tries for one wrap early on. Now, it's just smooth, quick, and finished in just one go.

You've discovered the 'joys' of working with metallic trim thread! To tame them, wrap them into place, them put color preserver on them before you try and cut the tag ends. Afeter about 15 minutes, you can cut the ends and not lose the trim wrap. The CP seems to relax the springy metallic and tack it down a bit.

Now that I've gotten the technique down, I don't have any trouble trimming the tags and having the wraps stay. I think I've figured out the proper amount of tension needed through lots of trial and error.

Plus, I assume the CP would mess with the transparent look of the wraps, which I wanted to preserve.



Agreed. I built a 476 before they started adding this to their blanks, and I definitely prefer it. Plus, it's lined up with the Epic logo in a way that looks a little off to me. No biggie, but I'd prefer it be gone too.