My two cents which is about what it's worth:

I don't do caps generally. I have in the past and have been able to make halfway decent looking ones, but I found that I was putting more effort into the cap than into the wrapping, only to cut it off later. So my cigars are essentially cylindrical, open on both ends. I know it's not "professional looking," but I'm not trying to outdo the Cuban and Dominican experts - I'm just focused on making good tasting and burning (and inexpensive) cigars. My moochers don't seem to mind

On the construction side of things, the cap is useful for keeping the cigar from unraveling, but I compensate by using sufficient glue along the outer edge of the wrapper.

Re the splayed foot - I'm not totally sure what you're getting at but I think you're discovering that in the bunching process it's not possible to have a consistent density all the way to either end. What I try to do is make the consistent part of the filler bunch be at least as long as the intended cigar length, assuming the thinner ends are going to be lopped. I'll bind it that way, and even wrap it that way, then cut the cigar to length afterwards. Does that make sense?

For getting the head right (the head is the part you put into your head), if I'm using a proper mold with a rounded end, I'll clip the bound bunch just beyond where is starts to get more sparse, then jam that end into the rounded part of the mold.

Disclaimer: the above is not what professionals or even competent amateurs do