Attachment 6540rst, I would like to thank everyone who helped me on this build. I really couldn't have done it without you guys.
Originally I was planning to keep this a secret from my brother until he came up at Christmas. Unfortunaltely, because of a new job, he won't be able to come up, so as a teaser, on November 10th, the Marine Corps Birthday, I told him what his Christmast present is. I'm holding on to it until then because I would like to tell him personally just how much I appreciate him serving. I also want to see his reaction to the rod.
On the butt cap of the reel seat is an Eagle, Globe and Anchor button off a dress blues uniform. The reel seat is white acrylic to represent the cover and belt on the uniform. The wraps are blue and scarlet (with 2 wraps of gold just for an accent) to represent the trousers with a blood stripe, the blank is a dark blue to represent the blouse of the uniform, and the guides are gold to represent the buttons.
Thank you all again,
TT.