Thread: Need help from pirates

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So I have very little knowledge of most prop building, but I would love to do a scale pirate ship for my main prop this year. Here is my problem. I am super picky about the way my projects come out, and I need help with getting a curve in the ships structure that can also be placed flat for storage. I would greatly appreciate any ideas that might get me on my way. I would like to try to keep the piece to 4 ft high, and 8 ft long. I am also planning on making it out of wood that I scrounged from pallets to make the side of the ship look more realistic. Thanks in advance for the help I know woo be available.

My ship is built using long planks - siding from an old garage. Angled across the front yard, it's only one side of the ship. We put some posts in the ground about six feet apart and screw the planks into the posts. Because of the distance between posts, we can get a nice curve in the span near the bow of the ship by placing one post slightly forward of the line. The planks are unscrewed at the end of the holiday and stacked up at the side of the yard (on edge so they don't trap water and rot. Well, don't rot too much.) Usually takes about 6 to 8 hours to build it each year, plus more time for fussing with mast and sails.

That's a great idea. Most of the pieces I have right now are shorter, no more than 4 feet each. I was wondering if there is a way to mount them on a 4x8 sheet of plywood and get a curve out of it.

We make longer planks out of short ones by screwing a connector piece between them. You know, take a 4-foot piece, screw a 6-inch piece of scrap on one end with 3 inches extending past the end, line up another 4-foot piece next to the first, screw the extension into it. Add another piece if you want an even longer plank. We started doing this because the weathered wood looked so great and some of it was starting to fall apart. You can also screw smaller interesting chunks onto any boring newer wood to improve it.

Here is a video of how I Built my ship. Its about 8 feet High and 26 feet long. I also used wood to build the ship. I hope this helps!

YouTube - ‪How to build a pirate ship in Ames IA.wmv‬‏

and to see it all finished here is a video YouTube - ‪Halloween Pirate ship in Ames IA‬‏

That looks amazing. Wish I had the space, but the construction will surely help. Thanks for the videos