Pub Bike - It's a wrap

In one sense, it's a wrap. The build is not complete but bar tape has been added. I went with a combo I've used before: cloth tape with a coating of shellac. This is brown Newbaum's tape with garnet shellac:

I've also used black cloth tape with clear shellac on another bike:

Each combination chosen to give a decent match with the colour of the saddle. With the Pub Bike having a honey brown Brooks saddle, a new combination was needed.

I'd read yellow cloth tape with amber shellac gives a good match. Newbaum's yellow version of their tape was duly bought, and finished off with some brown twine I had lying around (Rivendell's YouTube video is the one to view on how to use twine). No doubting it's yellow: 

I also wrapped the right chain stay to protect it from chain slap. With the rear derailleur cable getting in the way of this, I've gone with adding tape before setting up the gears.

Finding some amber shellac wasn't straightforward but I came across this:

Described as giving an orange finish, I'm assuming it stems from when buttons were solely wooden and shellac used to give them shiny finish? This is two coats worth (the yellow to the right of the twine is masking tape):

A start, certainly tending towards a honey brown colour, albeit two tone, with the parts of the tape that overlap being darker. Another two coats, and the match with the saddle is closer:

A further two coatings led to this (little different to adding four coats), and it'll do:

Not perfect but then nor is the wrapping, there's a few bulges. I've written before on my appreciation of the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi - its tenets of transience, incompleteness, and imperfection chiming with the reality of life (at least how I view it). For bar-end plugs I used a set by Nitto - opting for black to match the other parts in that colour. I'm hoping the black components and accessories provide a nice contrast to all the silver ones.

You may have also noticed the addition of a bell. Again in black and made by Crane.

Getting there then. Still the drivetrain and brakes to do and the odds and sods of the snagging list.