I put in a lot of hints to my wife, that this would be a great Christmas gift for me ... I just hope she got in... (She has backed a LOT of kick starters in the past, but she isn't much of a nixie fan

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I think the floating clock is very cool. I must say I'm not a huge fan of the +- tube in the middle, but I think it looks fantastic floating like that.
As far as fine vs Norma grid .. Here is my experience.
I used 6 fine grid IN-14 tubes on a QTC clock, they look fantastic.. I think they appear very clear, almost western like (like a Burroughs tube). I got the tubes off eBay and actually paid a little less for them than normal grid tubes (lucky?)
I have a Sven in in-8-2 normal grid. I LOVE them.. The grid pattern adds ruggedness to the Nixie tubes, makes them more USSR looking to me.
I have a set of IN-8 tubes that are fine grid (for a future clock). They look good, but as you said, the grid appears to be not as uniform as would be expected. They were sort of expensive tubes, I'm not 100% sure they were worth the premium over regular IN-8 tubes.
I think any clock you make with the fine grid tubes will look great, but I can say that normal IN-8-2 tubes look GREAT.. (Probably my favorite Nixie tube I have used so far).
This reminds me I need to start working on a IN-8 clock with sockets. Maybe I'll use the small (if not tiny) board that Ian has. Actually that sounds like a really good idea...