Murder  Of  A Garratt – the  coming  together

Finally, its very nearly done. Have to be very careful what I write here as I now the customer reads this blog but if ever there was a model I wish I’d walked away from its this one. It seems to be fighting to the end. Today has been a tale of broken glass.

First, my fancy York Gin glass fell out of the cupboard and smashed. Should have gone back to bed then or chosen to read a book for the day but its been a tale of broken glass model wise too.

Microscope cover slips to be precise.  They’re only 0.15mm thick optical glass and individual ones will break with a hard stare let alone trying to handle them. Get one out and separated from the pack and you’d better keep an eye on it as, with it being ultra clear glass, if you put it down they tend to disappear.

Cutting them is a whole new ball game. Theoretically its the same as cutting any glass. Scribe a line with a sharp thing and then flex it along the line.  Its not so straightforward when it gets so fiddly. Armed with a carbide scriber the glass slip is placed over a marked sheet or cutting block and a line scribed. The tricky bit is getting the pressure right, somewhere between not touching the glass and the weight of the scriber plus a smidge.

There’s added jeopardy if the slip needs a second cut as the first seems to warn the glass you are coming and it breaks from fright. The worst of these needed four cuts. Best I managed was getting one right at the second slip but the ones needing four cuts took many goes. Luckily they’re only about a fiver for a hundred.

I think its worth the effort though. I know, you’re going to say, “I can’t see the glass” to which my answer would be “precisely!”

This article was written because its ages since I wrote anything about the Garratt and its sort of some enforced patience to not touch it until the glue has dried fully. I have been saving pictures for a larger update but I’ll save that all now for a post entitled “delivered”.