[Frightshow]

After 8 weeks battling the heat in the garage, I wanted to share some photos of the newly finished Pirate Cannon. Just a few details - she's modeled after a 17th Century French, 18-pound artillery piece. At 7 feet long, she fires with smoke, light, and a neatly hidden subwoofer that shakes anything nearby! I even picked up real cannon fuse that sparks when lit to start the sequence off on Halloween!

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[Rustie]

Awesome work! Hope you get a video of that first shot on Halloween!

 

[jdubbya]

Remarkable! Love the attention to detail. Yes, please take some video of this thing in action.

 

[chef]

I now have cannon envy.... From one cannon guy to another, bravo! Join the pirates group, we'd love to have you mate.

My working cannon (light, fog, sound <goodwill subwoofer>) from 2014:

 

[cricket515]

Wow!!! Amazing work!

 

[shadpd]

Super badass!

 

[matrixmom]

Gulp. Wow. That looks like the real thing.

 

[J-Man]

ARRRRR! She be a beauty fur sure matey!

 

[Phantom Blue]

Excellent work! Thar be nothin' in better that Ive seen.

 

[Evil Bob]

That is easily the nicest cannon prop I've seen. I so need to make some!

 

[Scary Papa]

that thing is so cool.

 

[bobzilla]

Really awesome work!!!

 

[pacman]

Incredible piece of work , the aging and distressing make it look so realistic , its a real beauty you should be extremely proud of the finished cannon .

 

[foolishmortal42]

This looks great! The detail is wonderful. It looks like it is straight from the Pirates of the Carribean ride at Disney World.

 

[Frightshow]

Wow - amazing feedback and response! Thanks to everyone for such kind words and encouragement! I'm going to start a build thread here so you can see some of the "how-to" process as well.

 

[Frightshow]

Ahoy Maties!

This year, I embarked on building a scale-size replica naval cannon for the Pirate Haunting Theme this year. It's modeled after a French 18-pounder naval artillery piece. This project took approximately 6 weekends to accomplish. It helps to have at least a jig saw and some basic tools, and all the materials can be found from a big box hardware store and craft retailer.

You're neighbors will comment it's the coolest thing or think you're completely nuts for having a cannon in the garage.

Let’s do this thing!

 

[Frightshow]

PART 1 - Barrel

The barrel is fabricated from (2) 12" x 4' Concrete Form Tubes from Home Depot.

My barrel is set at 7 feet long. Of the 1 foot that was trimmed off (8' of cardboard tubes minus 1'), I used a 4" ring as an inside joiner to secure the two tubes together.

The key here is to taper the barrel down by cutting a pie-shaped wedge down the bottom (narrow end towards muzzle).

I used bungees and tie-down straps to hold the taper since the cardboard is extremely thick and stiff. A long, 7’ x 4” slice of cardboard runs inside and down the center of the barrel. This allowed me to close the slit with wood screws and glue.

Taking the remaining barrel scrap, I used these to create two barrel bands to help secure the entire unit together. Look closely to ensure there isn’t any “curving” accidentally put into the barrel at the joint.

 

[Frightshow]

That's quite a compliment! Pirates and Haunted Mansion are our favorite rides (of course)! Thanks foolishmortal42!

 

[Frightshow]

Thanks Pacman! The painting and weathering is always the fun part - and worth getting through the build to detail it out.

 

[Frightshow]

Chef - I'm in! Gotta love having an excuse to put artillery in the front yard!