Cardboard Pirate Ship

Working model of Pirate Ship.  I will update photos with completed ship and sails at a later date.

     I am planning for the office's annual Margarita party to have a shipwrecked theme this year.  Since desert islands usually have pirates, I started searching for pirate themed clipart and boat patterns.  I came across a simple boat pattern that I enlarged below. The boat is 10.5" long and 5" high at the back.

     I needed a quick piece of cardboard to make a model.  I looked at the empty Domino's pizza box on the counter.  The lid was perfectly clean.  I wondered if the four pattern pieces would fit on the top part.  As you can see from the photo, they did. Below are the two jpegs for the pieces.  Just print the side pattern twice.  Don't change the size.  Print them on cardstock 8.5" x 11."  I have already adjusted the pieces to make the boat a nice size for a centerpiece, picnic lunch, or food server.   
     I made the mistake of putting the print side of each piece inside the box.  You need to put the print side on the outside of the boat.  WHY?  Because you want the inside of the box to be just plain brown.   After you have cut both the cardboard, use tacky glue to put the pieces together.   Because I wanted to hide the corrugated edge of bottom sides, I added the glue to the edges of the bottom piece. Bend the cardboard sides so that they aren't too stiff to glue along the curve.  Use masking tape to hold until dry.  You could paint these if you are making multiple boats for a party.  Or...you can print out the back piece 8.5" x 11 on CARDSTOCK.  I have already sized the graphics to match the cardboard patterns.  Print out the side of the boat graphics on 11" x 8.5."  I landscaped the side graphics.  I printed the second side as a mirror image. Glue the side graphics on first. Glue the back of the boat graphic on last.  I made the back graphic bigger so that you could overlap it around the corners.
     Note: Dominos will either give you empty boxes or sell them to you inexpensively.  Their cardboard can be cut with scissors.

 

 I will be updating this post with final pictures.  I am making a mast with a small block of wood and one large dowel and two smaller dowels. The  block of wood will help the mast stand up by giving weight to the dowel.  I drill a hole to match the size of the large dowel and glue it.  The other two dowels are the cross poles for the mast.  See photo below.  I have just updated my patriotic version of the boats for the Fourth of July picnic tomorrow.  I wanted lightweight portable centerpieces.  Just for fun, I am going to fill them with cookies.
                                          
If you want Pirate masks to go along with your theme, I have the patterns for you here.

     


Most of the pirate ship images I found have red and white striped sails.  I will probably just lash the side poles to the main mast with twine.  Then I will just tie the four corners to the side poles.  A pirate flag at the top of the pole, and you are good to go.