Kevin Kenny
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Everything posted by Kevin Kenny
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I found the talk fascinating and feel vindicated that all the internals of my Thorn can one day be discovered using an endoscopic camera. It was also great touching base with people from around the world.
i used to be a friend of the National Maritime Museum when i was still working and traveling but it made no sense after i retired. I also was never able to get a guided tour when i was a member and found touring the exhibits by myself quite disappointing. As i have stated in other forum’s unless we find ways to make the visits more interesting, the public will lose interest in museums.-
I thought that Paul Fontenoy's explanation about ship models in museums needing to tell a story was very interesting. I was commissioned to build a model for the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI. Manitowoc has a long history of ship building dating back to the 1800's. Including Gato class submarines during WWII - they have the USS Cobia floating right outside the museum. Burger boats is still building boats in Manitowoc and they support the museum. My model and two others were the first three models in The Burger Collection. They will be telling the story of a wooden boat builder that has survived till today by meeting the needs of the changing world of boats who now builds world class yachts and working boats. They have an extensive model collection - many are used to tell a story. They commissioned me to build a 1/72 scale Gato class sub that they originally used in the area where the visitors gather to take the sub tours. When it was raining they would point out points of interest on the exterior of the sub using the model rather than skip this part of the tour. They now have it near the replica of the sub diving/surfacing and steering controls where kids can control the sub - with video enhancement. The sub is shown as being attacked by hologram depth charges with sound and vibration. They have toned down the vibration as it was causing damage to the model but it a very effective story teller.
They also have a very nice model room that they have no intention of changing over to touchy freely stuff for the kids. When they expanded the museum several years ago they put in a special area for that kind of stuff.
The museum also has a model display and contest each year that I have been the contest director of for 20 years now. We had to cancel the 2020 event entirely but we did the 2021 event with a virtual contest. We will be back to face to face this year.
Take care
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Just for the record, i too stopped the build of the Thorn when the skill required was beyond me, but started back only to find that the improve skill comes with making mistakes and remaking the pieces. Today there is no project i would not try knowing that it may require me to make a piece three or four times before i get it right. After all its only wood. What helped me greatly was that i was able to find an excellent source of wood here locally so wastage or cost was no longer a problem. Today i have a wonderful collection of modeling woods in the shop. best regards. kevin -
Just passed my 7th day with Covid. Bad cough. Fever for three days, chest pain when I cough, might have pulled a mussel, so keeping out of the workshop. I must have picked it up on the way down from New York. Good news is I’ll live.
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Congratulations on completing this major milestone. My advice to you is to strengthen the inside of the model by using PVA and sticking a batten from the bow to the stern at the very inside top of the frames. If you can get a second one in further down also do so. This will tighten up all the frames . Now you can sand and shape the outside of the hull getting rid of any high or low spots.
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The brass clamps come from Lee valley. I have since checked and there are many suppliers as these are traditional Japanese wood working clamps so you might get them cheaper elsewhere. .
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Starting to plan the wale. Built a jig to bend the green heart. It was interesting as i heated the wood with the blow dryer, you could feel the lignum let go which allowed the plank to bend. I have never actually felt this when bending other woods.
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As i am actually starting , were you happy with your approach to the wales and are there any key suggestions going forward?
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This is my challenge for January. Your job looks great. I `plan to use some very dark greenheart wood that i have and will still stain them black.
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I decided to update my table saw video on safety to include Kurts advice and my subsequent additions. .
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Tom, i did not make a video on the clamp extension arms but it was easy to make. I used some hardwood, in my case some green heart, cut a slot so the original clamp ends can fit down inside the slot and filled with epoxy. When a lot of pressure is placed on the arms i do get some bend. I plan to make two more using aluminum arms to see how they work out. I also feel they are too long and will make up a set that is only 3” deep. Also i added sand paper at the very end as when a lot of pressure is used they tend to slip. Once the sand paper was added that problem disappeared. I also made up some extensions which help me get into close up situations.
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In the tropics all untreated wood is subject to damage from dry-wood termites and woodworm damage. I have actually had one of my finished models attacked and had to treat the internal wood with liquid fluid and then gassed the model and case to kill all insects under the cover. Liquid termite fluid cannot penetrate painted surfaces while gas penetrates everything but leave no residue and so does not treat. It just kills. So now to make sure that does not happen again i treat all the wooden parts before i paint or apply any finish.
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the joinery really comes up when i added the termite fluid. I can wait to see the rub on poly effect.
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The clamps with the long arms were made by me using some green heart. I had to add sand paper to the ends as they tended to slip. They were easy to make
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The planking patten gives the deck lateral strength.Greg says that it’s an area where there is a lot of wear caused by the cannons going back and forth. He also says that these deck planks are often changed due to the ware.
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its called anchor stock planking, i suppose as it looks like the top wooden piece or stock of an anchor of the time.
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