HMS Thorn by Kevin Kenny - 1:48 scale - Swan-class - David Antscherl practium

[stuglo]

Fantastic!

[druxey]

And to you from warm and sunny Southern Ontario!

[hdrinker]

Where does one order coffee wood in sufficient bulk to accommodate a figurehead carving?

Qq

[Kevin Kenny]

I got mine from a friend. I am not sure that anyone sells this wood. But any dense hardwood will work.

[Kevin Kenny]

Just watch the preparation of the standing rigging for the Tally Ho which some of you may find very instructive. 

 

 

[AON]

I've never seen seizing in action or wire rope being splice. What a treat!

In the end the spliced steel wire grips the tail or core like a Chinese finger trap.

What a talented bunch of people

[John Murray]

On 12/27/2023 at 5:35 AM, Kevin Kenny said:

I got mine from a friend. I am not sure that anyone sells this wood. But any dense hardwood will work.

Kevin,

I am interested in how you process your coffeewood. I have you you have branches perhaps 6 to 12 inch diameter by a few feet long. I have similar except they are pear. I only have proxxon gear, how do you rip them for processing by your proxxon tools?

Regards
John

[Kevin Kenny]

Hi John

you need to find someone with a large table  saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and  shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. 

The Proxxon  work bench tools are too small to do this work.  Ill post some pictures

[Kevin Kenny]

Hi John

you need to find someone with a large table  saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and  shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. 

The Proxxon  work bench tools are too small to do this work. 

[Kevin Kenny]

Hi John

you need to find someone with a large table  saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and  shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. 

The Proxxon  work bench tools are too small to do this work. 

[John Murray]

5 minutes ago, Kevin Kenny said:

Hi John

you need to find someone with a large table  saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and  shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. 

The Proxxon  work bench tools are too small to do this work.  Ill post some pictures

G'day Kevin,

Thank you for that. I need to try and sus some places out for this.  I know it is asking a bit much but have you considered a video on this process?
I am sure I am not the only one thinking the same. Else, are you aware of any videos showing this process. I know of normal woodmills that I follow doing this for large slabs, but small logs such as we use seem to be thrown away.

Ah well.

 

 

[Kevin Kenny]

There are lots of the, on YouTube. that why i never did one. Here is one that explains an easy aapproach

 

[Kevin Kenny]

John

here is an interesting video on getting 1/4 sawn cuts on a band saw. It is a very interesting jig.

 

 

[Kevin Kenny]

Bob Emser has a wonderful video on making Blocks

 

 

 

[Kevin Kenny]

Ok enough carving its back to the model of the Thorn.
 

My last piece was my attempt at carving a rose which came out ok.  I had to use the Turbo Carver to get the deep thin slots between the petals and between the leaves. Not sure how this could be done with a gouge as the odds are the leaf would break. It was easy to do with the Turbo Carver. I also used a much thicker blank to be able to get the depth in the piece. The main challenge was deciding on the layering of the carving. I had to cut the leaves first and take those to the finial depth, then the next level  and so on. When the basic shape was  decided on i used the same techniques we learned in Annapolis to carve the finishes using the gouges.  Clean up was done with sandpaper and the Foredom using some round diamond bitts. You will have noticed that i have been carving large pieces much bigger that will be needed to put on a 1/4” scale model but i felt that this was what i needed to do to understand how to develop the carving  techniques.  Also i used a number of different woods of which Mahogany was  the easiest to carve. The Coffee wood, Juniper and Acoma with its tighter grain gave a much superior finish and allowed greater detail but was harder to work  and required sharpening the gouges on a more regular basis. 
In total i have carved 37 pieces and can see how my basic  skill level has improved. But its time to move on and get back to building my model.  I will continue to carve from time to time  but found that the workbench was incompatible with model making and carving at the same time. I was constantly having to sharpen the gouges. On a finial note i think i have burned out the bearing in the Turbo Carver for the second time, so that been sent off to service. 
 

Thank goodness for the use of my power tools. It makes me appreciate the work of the old masters even more when one realizes that they did not have access to modern tools.

[Kevin Kenny]

 

[Kevin Kenny]

Completing the molding on the starboards side 

[Kevin Kenny]

 

[Kevin Kenny]

 

[Kevin Kenny]

 

[Kevin Kenny]

 

[Kevin Kenny]

I have found some gold dry transfer sheets on Ebay which will arrive here costing about $25. It will not be the right colour but ill take a look at it. Its better that $200 from a professional service. It is the correct font

[Anthony Hearne]

if you know someone with a cricut they could cut a stencil for you 

[AON]

Kevin

We have a member in the MSON club with one. They used it to make their copper tiles. Would you like me to dig up the name and send you his contact info?

Alan

[Thukydides]

12 hours ago, Kevin Kenny said:

I have found some gold dry transfer sheets on Ebay which will arrive here costing about $25. It will not be the right colour but ill take a look at it. Its better that $200 from a professional service. It is the correct font

As Alan said you best bet is probably to get someone with a cricut to cut you some stencils into contact paper and then airbrush on the letters. However If you can't find anyone to do that then you could also consider painting over the transfers once they are on. As long as you pick a similar colour you can stop your painting just short of the edge and the lighter colour will serve as a bit of a highlight. That way you can you can tint the transfer such that it looks right while still getting the benefit of the crisp lines.

Edited July 25 by Thukydides

[druxey]

The font you picture (post #982)is a modern late 19th/20th century one. It is quite unlike that used in the 18th century.

 

 

The letter have thick and thin strokes, as well as serifs (the triangular pointy bits). Bold san serif lettering will detract from your lovely model. If you can't imitate the style, perhaps omit the name altogether?

Edited July 25 by druxey

[Kevin Kenny]

I am well aware of that, but its what i have to work with. 

[Kevin Kenny]

Does anyone have a digital copy of the frames for the Swan on file? Mine has disappeared and  Greg does not seem to have a copy.

[giampieroricci]

 I have a copy of the frames I downloaded. Send me your e-mail address and I will send them to you.

[Kevin Kenny]

Thanks i got it from Greg this morning.
Best regards

kevin