Model Black Pearl Using Upcycled Material

This is a Model of the fictional ship Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean. This was made during the covid 19 pandemic where everybody was forced to stay at home. So to make use of my time I started making a ship and after 1 year and 1 month later I got a highly detailed, scratch-built model of the black pearl. And as said above I was stuck at home, so this model contains material that I had lying around, from the wooden stips to the paint to the little lamps in the back of the ship.

The reason I ended up making an instructable is to show the various ways material can be reused to make anything from the simple to a professional standard.

This project is something that I had to piece along the way with lots of trial and error. This instructable is also for those willing to take up the challenge of creating something new just because you have the passion to do so.

One thing I would like to say before we start, don't be afraid to get creative and use different materials and technics to make a project like this. ( also you should have some steady hands that can manipulate and craft small objects)

A small video presentation https://youtu.be/fzxcpBGz5YI

Supplies

I have to say I just used the material that was at my house but the following material would be better.

1) Some balsa wood for the planking of the hull preferably also as it is easy to use and shape

2) Balsa blocks and sheets.

3) Wooden poles according to the required sizes of your masts( I used a plastic tube I found lying at home and BBQ sticks)

4) wood glue, super glue, carving, sanding equipment, and a whole lot of time.

5) Card paper

I don't expect anyone to use these materials instead use your own material that is available around you, be creative and try to make everything from scratch so that even though the end product is not perfect you can be proud to say that this is my creation.

Step 1: Preparation

Before we start doing anything at all we should plan our approach and in my case, we will follow this order:

Print out the ribs and backbone of the ship.
Cover the ship with the planks
Form the decks
Creating your own canons
Create your own barrels
Lay the wiring for the lamps(optional)
Finish off the captains quarter
Adding the side harnesses for the masts
Add the stairs and the handrails
Finishing off the base of the ship
Making the masts
Learn some rigging
Finishing off the masts with the rigging and all
Attaching the masts
Rigging the masts and adding the final detail on the top part

These are steps that I recommend you to do if u don't want to go the way I did and take over a year to complete.

Step 2: Safety First

We are working with power tools, saws and blades so are careful and are sure to wear a mask and eye protection to avoid wood powder going into them.

Secondly, this is a model ship that is very fragile so make sure you are being safe with it.

Some things to do while working on this:

Wear safety glasses and safety gloves when sanding and cutting
Stay in an open area while sanding
Secure your model on a solid platform (or just clamp it down anywhere as I did )
Use a magnifying glass cause these are really tiny pieces.

Step 3: Print Out the Ribs and Backbone of the Ship.

This is the printable, so u can now take a printout according to the scale that you are going to make.

The backbone is going to be made of wood as it is necessary to be strong and the ribs are made of cardboard as this is only essential till we add the outer skin of wood. I made the backbone using some crate wood. This wood is not that easy to shape and can cause some splinters so be careful when handling this. the create wood was too think so I had to cut it into half to get the appropriate size and then cut out the backbone structure. sand down the edges till smooth and rounded.

now attach the ribs and backbone while being sure that they are perpendicular to each other. I used synthetic resin glue for this but any other wood glue would work.

Step 4: Cover the Ship With the Planks

I used here some wooden strips from an old window shade made of rough bamboo strips. They are cleaned of any paint then sanded down to give a flat surface, and then cut accordingly to size.

the strips have to be layed in a special manner so pls watch this video before starting anything on planking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSyVTYBwOmc

After planning we have to cut out the holes for the canons. so we mark out the places and drill 4 holes in each corner making sure that the drill doesn't exceed the marked area. Then we use this saw to cut out the holes and sand them down.

Step 5: Form the Decks

The decks are also taken from the printouts. I made the decks using a 2 layer method: a layer of card to take the exact shape of the deck then pasted a layer of wooden strips( the same used for the hull ) on the card layer. This step is quite straightforward and was no complications other than that all the wooden strips should be flat with each other.

When attaching the deck to the hull make sure the deck is only slightly below the opening for the canons.

Before adding the top deck, add the cannons (step 6) and some barrels to finish off the bottom deck as the top deck will be glued on after adding.

Remember to cut out all the relevant openings and holes before laying the planks and after laying them too.

Step 6: Cannons

Here you have to be a bit attentive to detail at the same time not make it too complicated as you have to make several copies of it ( 32 to be exact ).

The canon's body is made of paper while the canon itself is made and carved out of a BBQ stick.

the body has 3 pieces of card 2 for the side and one to hold both in place. The wheels are small cuts of BBQ sticks that are glued in place. The canon is carved using a file while the BBQ stick is rotated using a drill. the canon connects to the body through 2 pins (extensions to join the canon to the body).

Next, the harnesses of the canon are sent through 2 loops made of wire on either side of the canon body, and a single loop on the back of the canon as seen in the above picture.

These harnesses are attached to the ship again using two loops of wire.

Step 7: Barrels

For this step, I had to get a bit creative and made a realistic-looking barrel. The first step is to cut a small block out of the pencil (this was a pencil that was ready to be thrown as it was that old) then shape the 2 ends so that the diameter of the ends is smaller than that of the middle. then we paint the barrel in a color of your choice. To add the metal rings we use small strips from a metal mesh. to make life easy try to straighten the coiled-up wire. After doing so we will wrap the stips around the barrel to make the rings and super glue them into place as shown in the above pic.

Step 8: Lightings (optional) and Finishing Off the Captains Quarters

The lamps in my case are some old miniature street lamp posts so I simply just modified them to fit the model. The 3 lamps are connected in parallel so in case one breaks the rest will not be affected. The lighting in the captain's quarter is from two filament lamps to give it that candlelight color. these are also connected parallelly. All are connected together and the outlet comes out near the stand of the ship which is then sent under the base of the display where there is a switch and a battery pack.

After we do the lighting we can add the top deck to finish off the decking. The windows here are made of oil paper and the grill is made of a metal wire diameter of 0.5 mm. The part of the captain's quarters jotting out is made entirely out of paper and card. The first step was to measure draw and cut everything to size in such a way the pieces fit perfectly. I would recommend if you could use some test pieces to determine the exact shape needed (I'm referring to the trial and error method).

Then we paint the pieces before adding the oil paper. Then we paste the pieces and finish off the edges using a file to slightly smooth the card. then we add the roof in a tile textured way, that way is one on top of the other as shown in the drawing above.

Step 9: The Side Plate for the Masts Harness

the side plates, as I would like to call them, are made of ice cream sticks that are shaped onto the hull and glued into position with the help of 2 foundations drilled into the hull. the deadeyes are attached to the hull using a metal wire that goes over the side plate. Make sure that this side plate is strong enough to hold the masts under a lot of tension.

Make sure you leave space for the canons in between each deadeye support. between each cannon opening, there should be 3 supports as per the design of the ship. the above diagram is just for reference and not according to the shape.

Step 10: Adding the Stairs and Hand Rails

The handrailings posts were made using toothpicks cut according to size and at the point where the vertical post meets the handrail, a small groove is cut (as shown above) to provide support. the handrail is made out of the stalks of the coconut tree leaves which are then cut around all 4 corners to get a square-shaped cross-section.

The stairs are made of the same planks used to make the hull of the ship. The steps are connected to the side support so that in between the steps there is a space (like a floating staircase). again the handrails are made in the same way. At the end of the handrails, we have a wooden disc cut out from a toothpick to finish it off.

Step 11: Finishing Off the Base

Now we can add the cannons and captains wheel and

Step 12: Masts and Rigging

The masts are made of balsa as well, and u can see how it is made from video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUlK4eB2Il8

after adding your masts we can start rigging the ship. Rigging is the part where u add your ropes or in this case your nylon thread. this part is done realistically, the following video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUrRb66VSSE

The lamps on the back of the ship are something that was taken from an old broken miniature street lamp set that I modified to fit in. the lamps r connected to a battery pack on the bottom of the wooden base, and also the captains quarters are also lit using 2 LEDs. so for the LEDs to be seen the windows r made of oil paper.

The masts are made of balsa as well, and u can see how it is made from video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUlK4eB2Il8

after adding your masts we can start rigging the ship. Rigging is the part where u add your ropes or in this case your nylon thread. this part is done in a realistic way, the following video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUrRb66VSSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvTBs9SCfzk

u can buy these small circles with holes(called deadeyes) from a hobby shop or like me make it out of a BBQ stick.

Simply cut out an appropriately sized out piece and use a file to sand out the outer rim to provide support for the rope to attach. and then use a small drill bit to drill out 3 holes. then we can use a needle to put the thread through the holes as shown in the above picture.

Step 13: Finalizing

And now u can add cannons barrels and other details to make it look realistic. the barrels were actually in my case made out of a pencil and a single thread of steel wool as shown above.

The painting in the back is hand-painted over a printed picture of the actual design.

Finally, I have to say this was the first time I made any sort of model ship, and it, turning out the way it did was a surprise to me as well. So from this, I have to tell the readers, "Don't be afraid to try something new, as long as u got the passion and perseverance nothing is impossible".