Note : a couple of tips about UV unwrap.
1 You need to complete your UV unwrap in one session as the seams and pins are not saved when you close the application. However you can still edit UVs at a later date.
2 Experiment a bit with the x,y,z projection direction until you get the best layout
3 Use the UV relax tool to untangle those little areas that dont unfold well, but use with discretion as it tends to pull all the points into a small area which means you have to spend a bit of time pulling them out again.
4 You can apply a chequer texture to your object to check how well spaced your UVs are too. Select all your objects faces, apply a new material, in the material.. textures dropdown box there is a texture checker option. I guess you could also apply your own higher density texture pattern by applying it to the material file using a 2d application. Checker patterns are usefull for checking your UV layout as they show if your UVs are too stretched in some areas. If you have both the perspective and UV windows open at the same time you can move the UV vertices around to better align the texture to the object. This is not just limited to checker patterns, you can apply and align pictures, decals textures etc.
5 Even after you have finished with UV unwrap and you no longer have the seams and pins, you can still go on editing the UV map. For instance you can still move the UV points around on the UV map, you can detach a section of the map using the UV detach tool, or weld them together using the point weld tool. When doing this you need both the UV and perspective windows open so you can see and know which vertice is highlighted.
6 Keep saving as new files as UV can take some patience and no you dont want to lose your effort.
Anybody has tips to add you are most welcome