Kirby paint web site

[mccloud]

I've used Kirby paint and been pleased with it. You would phone them because they did not have much of a web presence, but recently I took a look at their new and much improved web site. https://kirbypaint.com/ Oh, my! The first thing you see on the homepage is an ABS plastic Old Town canoe, clearly NOT painted with Kirbys paints. I would suggest to them that they use a photo of a restored, classic w/c canoe painted gorgeously with a Kirby paint on their homepage. Certainly someone among the WCHA could 'help them out' in finding the right canoe for this purpose. Tom McCloud

 

[Dave Osborn]

I saw that too, Tom.
I don’t have an appropriate photo with Kirby paint to send him. Hope someone else can send him one.

 

[ticonderoga]

I had given them the picture that was in our calendar of my 1906 Morris a couple of years ago and it was on their webpage in the gallery section, but it was the first picture so it was readily visible. It was their sea green color. They are great people to do business with .Joe

 

[Abenakirgn]

I contacted Kirby about the Home page picture and was told it was a stock shot the web designer used. They agree the picture should be a wooden boat/canoe featuring their paint. I'm sending them one of a 16' Prospector in Gray-Green, and I would suggest that anyone having pictures to contact them and send them along.
Dave

 

[mccloud]

The attached photo is of the only canoe I have, a 12' Huron, that was finished with Kirby's paint. The shot was taken at Assembly at Paul Smith's in 2016. Certainly not a suitable photo for Kirby's homepage. The light beige is one of their stock colors. Seems to me that an ideal photo for Kirby's would be a canoe painted with a custom color that they had mixed. Anyone have a dove grey out there? Tom McCloud

 

[MGC]

I have an IG that I painted with a custom Kirby green. It was an attempt to match a very small color sample I had from a piece of the original canvas.
Sadly I'm not really happy with the paint and would not choose to use it again.
First, it was a real PITA to get it thinned enough to roll without drying too quickly. It wanted to leave very small splatters behind. These tiny splatters stood proud once dried. They dried too fast to feather out. To their credit the folks at Kirby were as helpful as they could be and provided suggestions/advice and helped me to understand what was happening. I made the best of it and finally accepted a finish that is not as good as I normally achieve with other paints.
Now that the paint is dry it seems like it's a very soft finish. All I have to do is look at it and it scratches. I don't know if this is normal but from my experience I've never encountered a paint that is so hard to work with or delicate once dry.

 

[shelldrake]

I have had to use lots of Penetrol to keep it flowing. Nice finish though. And some cool traditional colors like Green Tint.

Matt

 

[shelldrake]

..Plus, the're very nice people to deal with.

 

[mccloud]

I also add Penetrol or kerosene to get the viscosity I like for spreading, and to slow drying. The percentage added varies with every paint. But my canoes are for use so I'm not as finicky as the top builders (rightly) are.
Tom McCloud

 

[MGC]

I also add Penetrol or kerosene to get the viscosity I like for spreading, and to slow drying. The percentage added varies with every paint. But my canoes are for use so I'm not as finicky as the top builders (rightly) are.
Tom McCloud

I'm also in the habit of using Penetrol. My canoes are used..no show queens so the soft paint is a bit disturbing. Eventually I'll re-paint with Epifanes...

 

[shelldrake]

And voila!, the plastic Old Town is gone........https://kirbypaint.com/

 

[mccloud]

EXCELLENT! A big improvement over ABS. Tom McCloud