Thread: Advice for Pirates of the Carribbean Theme

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demichae,

The mast is pretty straight forward. Again, I will get more detailed pictures out this weekend. Easy to do and such.

The pictures are not the best for the siding on the ship. We recommend you use 3/8" or 1/4" plywood and prior to installing it to the ship, get a saw and cut 1/8" grooves into the plywood at 10" intervals lenght wise. Paint the grooves black and it will give the look of wood.

gym_ghost

The ship measured out to be approximately 24’ in length (total 30’ with bow mast). The floor deck measured 5’ up ground. The captains quarter, 8’ high. We basically used 2 4’x8’ wood pallets as the main deck and to build from. We secured the pallets to the ground (my front lawn is three levels. The one we built off of was 3’ high.) (We are building another pirate ship this year for another haunt in Riverside, CA and plan to use 4 55 gallon drums filled with water to place the pallets on and then secure them by 2x4 down the sides of the drums and strapping them in place, and then securing the 2x4 to the pallets.)

From the pallet, we built the frame to secure upper and lower portions of the main plywood. Since we plan to bow the wood, we used screws with washers to hold them in place.

For the bow for the ship. We worked off center line of the ship and used a 4x4, bolting it to the pallets. From there, we forcely bowed the 3/8” plywood into place and secured it to the tip of the 4x4. We then cut into shape.

For the mast – we picked up 5” or 6” x 8’ gardening posts. We drilled out two of the ends using a 3/8” extended drill (min. 14” long). You want to drill at least a foot deep. Drill center of the post and keep the drill straight – very important. From there, we hammered in a 2’ long ½” rebar into one end, and then hammered in the other post onto the balance or rebar sticking out. From there, we used “simpsons” straps or brackets at least 1/8” thick and lagged bolt them into place on opposites sides of the post.

Once the mast were done, we then secured the sail beams using 1 ¼” X 3” lag bolt with a fender washer and then used rope to secure it. Sailing beams were 1” x 2” wood pieces (pick up 8’ and 12’ lengths). Add the sails and you’re done. Rig the ends of the sail beams with ¼” rope so they support each other – see picture.

VERY IMPORTANT – this takes 4 people to install. And be sure the area is clear of debris and tools when you plan to mount. I recommend you pre-drill the holes for the masts prior to standing them up in place.



You will need to secure GRADE 5 +7” 5/16 Lag bolts or carriage bolts. You need to secure the mast to the pallet and to the ground. Pretty straight forward to securing to the pallet. For the ground, we used a ½” drill and drilled at an angle about 7” up in order to drive a 18” piece of rebar through it and into the ground. Do this on two sides, but not the opposite side. You want to stabilize it from turning and such. This method worked and held the mast in place with 45 mph winds.

OR

Prior to placing the mast into place, secure by lag bolts, a 2”x6”x 24” piece of lumber. Drop into place and then drill ½” holes about 8” away from the mast and pound through ½” rebar so it at least goes 18” into the ground. Try to bend the rebar over or drive the rebar in at an angle so it applies pressure to the board downward.

I recommend you study and make sure you get everything in place when you lift the mast beams. Once there, do not attempt to use a ladder or such to add anything. It could snap!!!

From there, paint and add the props.

Good luck,
Gym_ghost


(regrettably, I wont be able to post pictures for a few days. Servers are being configured and do not have FTP ability)

Wow. Thank you very much for the detailed instructions! I'll provide photos/updates as I build my ship. Thanks again!

There are some great ride-through films at http://mousegeeks.com/piratesvideo.html for Pirates.
This will be the 3rd year I have done pirates. I converted the front 10' or so into the pirate ship, had cannons, pirate at the helm, netting, drinking pirate and treasure all in there. I left the front yard for the graveyard. There is a short film of my haunt at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k63Lq19r4uQ.
There is a film of the cannons working with the lights on at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvs_wwlEKyA.
This year is supposed to be pretty much the same as last but with more technology added.
Feedback is always welcome
-Don

Alwysrit2,
Excellent job and some great video's.

gym_ghost

I have a small in-town lot. We went with a ship that was built on a diagonal across part of the yard (so we only had to build one side), turned half of the front porch into the crew's quarters and half as a wharf with cargo - barrels, chests, pallets. I put the cannon on the wharf just because it was easier this year. Planning to move it to the ship and possibly adding a second ship next year. In the driveway, which I foolishly missed as a possible stage last year because I kept parking the car there all month (we have no garage.) On-street parking for me next October! Video and pictures at my blog.
Pirate video

Wow, everyone's pirate stuff looks so great!!! Makes me what to make more for my ship. My wife is going to kill me, most likely the week before Halloween.

Very nice job alwysrit2 very nice detail work....Just goes to show you can't go wron with pirates!!!


If your willing to do some leg work and save some money on lumber...call a fence company in your area to see if you can pickup old fence sections...Hey this stuff is even aged already. I would use this as decoration only!!! Do not use to support any kind of weight.