Robert, I think your gun is fantastic! You did a great job with your first build from a blank. As you found out you get a lot more flexibility in the build and get to impart some of your own personality into the piece. Side plate, thimbles, butt plate everything you made from scraps of metal look great. Aging on the metal very well done, looks believable. you'll have to work up the nerve to work on the wood aging but really good job. That trigger guard is a Dutch style guard by Reeves Georing.