Thanks for getting back to me, Billy and Lou. When I looked through the .pdf that Lee posted the link to, I was taken by the variety of pen mechanisms. It seems that being able to get one's hands on them would open the door to some new possibilities. Then again, I still don't have experience with more than a handful of kits to know what I'm doing yet.
Mike, it'd be good to hear some more from you about your quality concerns with the parts you received from Schmidt. Are you referring to plating issues, fit, etc.?