Shootable Pirate Cannon!

Materialss:

*cardboard

*large cardboard tube

*paper maché (newspaper, flour and water)

*paint (brown, black, silver, white)

*duct tape + empty roll

*ribbon

*3 bouncy balls

*wooden dowel (5/16 an inch)

*air dry clay

Step 1: Set-up Cardboard Tube

*Using a large cardboard shipping tube remove one of the lids.

Step 2: Create Ridges

*Create some ridges by crumpling up paper and taping it smooth.

*Add some paper to the closed end to make it rounded.

*Wrap crumpled paper around the cannon to make the base wider and the opening more narrow.

Step 3: Paper Maché Cannon Tube

*Create a mixture of flour and water so it is about the consistency of thick cream.

*Tear up thin strips of newspaper to about 1 inch width, or to your own preference. Strips can always be torn into smaller pieces for tricky edges.

*Dip strip into flour and water mixture and run between fingers to remove excess liquid.

*Smooth strip along cardboard and overlap pieces until all the cardboard is covered.

*Let dry.

*You may need to do this in several steps to allow one part to dry before applying paper maché to the other side.

*Since the tube is already thick only 1 layer needs to be done for uniformity. If desired multiple layers can be done on the ridges.

Step 4: Create Wheels and Choose Box

*Choose a large box to be your cannon base.

*Trace a round plate 8 times onto cardboard. (You will need 2 circles for each wheel since they are 3D)

*Cut out the circles using scissors or a box cutter.

*Cut long thin strips of cardboard about 2 inches wide. The length will need to be the circumference of the circles above. Our wheels were 9 inches in diameter and 28.5 inches around.

*Bend the cardboard so that the cardboard will look round on the wheels.

*Tape the strip to the wheels so the full circle is closed.

*At this point the wheels should be able to roll on the ground easily.

Step 5: Shape Box Base

*Draw the steps on the box.

*Measure the width of the steps to be 2 inches.

*Cut and fold the flaps.

*Fill any gaps with cardboard pieces and tape together.

Step 6: Paper Maché Base

*Paper maché the base of your cannon using the same technique as before.

Step 7: Paper Maché Wheels

*The wheels are trickier because it is mostly curved.

*Use smaller strips ~1cm or less help to keep the round shape smooth.

Step 8: Paint the Box

*Paint the box a solid brown using acrylic paint.

Step 9: Paint the Tube

*Paint the cannon tube a solid black.

*Mix silver paint with black to add some shine to the cannon along the ridges.

Step 10: Add Detail

*Using black as well as brown blend in lines to make the edges and ridges stand out.

*Blend some large scattered black lines along the whole outer body of the box. The inside doesn't need to be painted with details since it will be covered by the cannon tube.

Step 11: Paint the Wheels

*Paint the wheels a solid brown.

*Blend black lines along the ridges.

*Blend straight black lines to give the illusion of wooden wheels.

Step 12: Trace Design

*Print out design in desired size.

*Tape tracing paper and design to box with the tracing paper underneath.

*Use a pen or pencil and trace the outer edges of the design.

Step 13: Paint the Design

*Paint the design with white acrylic paint.

Step 14: Outline in Marker

*Outline the design with a black marker, this will make it stand out a little more. This also helps to smooth out any imperfect paint lines.

Step 15: Drill Holes

*Drill holes in the center of each wheel. The hole will need to go all the way through.

*Use a drill bit similar in size to the wooden dowel (5/16 inch).

Step 16: Attach Wheels

*Cut the wooden dowels to about 6 inches in length.

*Attach the wheels to the wooden dowels.

*Drill through the cannon box where you want the wheels to go.

*Stick the wooden dowels through the box holes to attach the wheels.

Step 17: Create Wheel Caps

*Using air dry clay, shape caps for the wheels.

*Make four 1 inch cubes for the outside part of the wheel.

*Make four 1 inch spheres to attach to the dowel on the inside of the box.

Step 18: Attach the Wheel Caps

*Gently using a twisting motion, press on the unhardened clay pieces.

*Let the clay dry on the wheel.

Step 19: Create Sling

*Using an old duct tape roll drill holes on either side and paint black.

*Cut out some ribbon.

*Thread the ribbon through the holes.

*Make sure you have enough ribbon to push the sling into the cannon as well as have left overs to hold onto.

Step 20: Show Time!

*Get some grey coloured bouncy balls from the dollar store, paint over the logos in grey.

*Place a ball into the dip of the sling and lower into the cannon.

*Position cannon to aim for target.

*Stand behind or beside the cannon and pull both sides of the rope.

*Let 'er fly!