Spock's Sister Sees

According to Merv (who knows everything there is to know about microscopes) restoring paintwork is easy but tedious. I haven’t found it to be easy although I’d agree with the tedious part.

I have been attempting to perfect the paintwork on my Cooke Troughton and Simms polarizing microscope. I sanded the bits where the paint needed re-doing, I primed, I put on Japlac, I let it dry, sanded with a very fine grade sandpaper and repeated. Japlac is supposed to brilliant in that it doesn’t leave brush marks – all lies. I have brush marks, I sand them down and I’m back to the bare metal in places and still have brush marks. I’ve tried thinning the paint. No use.

I’m off to buy a gloss roller because as Merv says  “Continue until the new paint is slightly proud of the surface, or old age has carried you off…”

I’ve got things to do. I’m not spending the next 30 years on the paintwork.

I SHALL CONQUER IT!