Thread: Need help creating ghost ship and pirates

Tweet

Hey guys!

We are wanting to do a Ghost ship theme in our yard this year but have noooo clue how to go about building a pirate ship! I thought about just having the front of one and making it look like it has sunk in our yard since we plan on using a fog machine and a colored strobe to create a water effect. Any ides on how we could make this ship or what we could make it out of? We don't want to get too expensive with it since its only used once a year. Any ides where we can get awesome pirate props would be great too!

Check this out: http://www.socalhalloween.com/Pictures2007.html

and

http://www.socalhalloween.com/Pictur...struction.html

Most people can't replicate something of this magnitude, but it can give you some ideas of where to start. =)

A half-baked idea: Build a stage flat shaped like a ship. Basically, make a frame shaped like a ship silhouette, staple material to it, and paint your ship. You can knock apart the frame when the year is done, roll up the canvas and store in a fairly small area. Kind of like old carny signs. You might have to touch up the paint next year, or completely build a new-shaped flat. But it would be cheaper than building an entire ship!
dch

We just made a ship hull today. Our theme is "Pirates of the Terriblebein" so our story begins during a battle. We used two fridge boxes that you can get from your local Sears. use one box for the stern : you are going to cut one seam of the box and push out two sides to make the triangular front of the stern. You should have two sides on either side of the "stern" to make part of your ship hull. To stablize the shape you are going to use duct tape and some Loctite glue to glue the upper box flaps together. Now that you have a stern, you can use another fridge box to make the rest of your hull. Pretend you are a kid playing with boxes! Paint with OOps paint from Depot in some off shade of brown and shade with some gray. Use wide Sharpie markers to make planks with nail holes. Cut out portholes or blast holes with box cutters. Use other parts of the box to make prow. have fun!

If you do a search on the term "Pirates", I am sure you will find several great examples of ships that folks have built in years past.

It would help to know how your house and yard are set up. I have done a Haunted Pirate Ship theme for a couple of years and I think it has turned out pretty good....

I build the bow of a Pirate ship off the second story deck on the front of my house. I also have a few "Piratey" props on the front lawn area. This year I am adding a few more props to my set up.

There is a "Pirates" group section you can join and see how the various members decorate their yards.....Here are a few pics to give you an idea of my haunt and you can check out more pics under my profile:

heres some pics of my pirate theme.check out my gallery,plus theres a pirate group on here with some awesome pirate haunters

Yes! I remember looking at your installation this summer, I believe! Its wonderful! We really are concentrating more on lighting this year and getting our sound effects synched. We have multiple strobes and thunder cannons, are adding blacklight. We have plenty of great skeletons that have been "distressed" from previous years . I was wondering how to get pirate costumes for less this time of year? I have been looking around and have not found much that was cost effective. Will be out today looking.... thanks again, this is a great forum!

waterbaby2086,

If you look at my pics, you can see that I have attached a beam to my deck by sliding it under the lower section of the railing. That beam is about 14'+ long...It is supported by an angled bow piece that is then attached to a cross-brace laid on the driveway.

Once the bow beams are in place, I attach redwood bender board from the angled beam back to the deck supports. I then weave a combination of netting and spooky cloth between the boards.

All this is illuminated by a set of flood lights from the front and rear. I also have a fog machine set up behind the bow to shoot fog up through everything....as you can see from the night pics, the effect looks pretty eerie.....!

Here is what I did last year.. Just a basic 1x2 frame and Styrofoam over the top.. Took about a week, given I only worked on it a couple of hours here and there.. Not the best, but it looked cool...

Originally Posted by k9_specops

Here is what I did last year.. Just a basic 1x2 frame and Styrofoam over the top.. Took about a week, given I only worked on it a couple of hours here and there.. Not the best, but it looked cool...

That is awesome.....nicely done there matey.....!!!!