Hey David thanks for the kind remarks. The wraps are gold w/no cp. I apply flexcoat lite on the wraps and then wipe off as much as I can with a dry brush. Second coat is thin however I don't wipe it off. Very similar to loudog's finish technique but I believe he wipes the second coat off also. Others here get some spectacular results with urethane and varnish and when my rod building skills get better I'd like to give those adhesives a try.
I agree trim bands on the tip section would look very appealing but with the Lami having a much slower feel than I'm used to I didn't want to add any unnecessary weight up top. Probably wouldn't have made any difference but I figured better safe than sorry.
Goldenrod with no cp would probably look really good on the Lami blank although I've never used it so I can't say for sure. Honestly I think GudeBrod color #'s 200, 221, 290, 602, 705, and 541 all w/ no cp have great possibilities. Id highly recommend doing something like this
p097.ezboard.com/ffibergl ... =199.topicto get a good idea of how the colors look with finish on them. Silk threads would probably be the prettiest of all but I spend waaaay too much time agonizing over nylon; I'm not sure if I could handle yet another 5-10 colors that would look great on a blank.
Wish I could show pics of the whole rod but you're right, it's hard to do. I tried a pic with the rod laying on the grass but there was too much glare to show the colors. Pics of the rods leaning against a tree, in the shade, weren't any better.
Good luck with your upcoming project and be sure to post pics. If you haven't already check out the Lami builds posted here. There are a bunch of really good builds by some very talented rod makers.
Mark