Friday, October 29, 2010

#6 Pirate Ship Playhouse - Stuffes

HEY THAR!
Captain HighTide Says

Hello to All yas Pirates out ThAR!

WELCOME BACK!
and THANKS for SAILING by

 
 




One time while in Washington, I found a ceramic bust of a Pirate at a Goodwill store and named it Captain Goodwill.


My Twin Brother found a Ships wheel and a large trunk/treasure chest at a garage sale


 

 




I also did some designs to see how things looked before I actually built sections on the ship.
Here are a few design ideas below.


 


 
 
Below picture is what the ship will look like when completed
 

Below picture is an idea I did in windows paint to turn a pirate ship into a Studio Apartment or Cabin!



OK Scallywags, I'm making this one a short Bloogins?
-eheh Bloggins, it's been a long week.

Don't Worry Captain HughTide?  see what I mean? can't even spell me own name right?

And doun't foregets ta come back and see more of me blog.

This is Captain HighTide Shoving off ta Claim more treasure!

 







 

Thursday, October 28, 2010

#5 Pirate Ship Playhouse project - Construction 2010

HEY THAR!
Captain HighTide Here's



Spring- Summer- Fall 2010
Front Bow Cabin Construction and New Exterior Stain finish



The Picture above shows what was completed in 2009

In 2010, I begin building the front bow
by adding 1/2" thick Mahogany wood Planking


I was able to find a person on Craigslist not too far out of Sacramento, who just so happened to buy rough sawn Mahogany and re-saw and plane it down to the ½” thickness that I needed. (I love Craigslist!) Perfect timing, just when I needed Mahogany wood for the front bow planks.  Thanks Paul. 

 This was a whole new experience, learning how to shape straight pieces of board for new planking to the same contour of the existing original curved planks. The Bow Planks were a lot of tedious exhausting work in the heat of summer with a saber saw and a belt sander, I estimated that it took about 2-4 hours each depending on the length, to trace, measure and cut, then belt sand and then check the fit and then belt sand some more, and then belt sand a lot more and then do the final belt sanding finishing touches and then a few extra zaps from the belt sander here and there, and then wonder why it’s not fitting as good as it did the last time I test fitted the plank?  Start the Belt sanding process all over again, there now onto the next plank! %$#@&!  10 rows of Planks took me about 1-month of scattered evenings and some long weekends.
















With the Planks installed it was time
to start building the Bow Cabin, walk around Deck
and Front Mast mount

In the series of pictures below, shows the front cabin progress including the walk around deck and front mast mount.






I will be adding 3 windows for the front cabin later



Front Mast Mount



The middle/Main Deck has not been installed yet and thats why the door to the front cabin looks a little tall

In the series of pictures below you can see the new decks on the front bow and Captains Quarters, Including the Safe-T-deck paint finish.  The Deck paint has small granules in the paint to prevent Slipping.

in this picture above I have added
1/4" Luan Planks and then painted the transition areas
with Elastic Barrier before I apply the Safe-"T" Deck paint.
This helps prevent leaks.

above picture shows the Safe "T" Deck paint finish


 


In the Pictures above and below you can see that I have re-sanded the exterior (30+ hours) and re-stained with a Fence-Deck stain that is very easy to apply and will be so much easier to maintain. The hardware store that mixed the color named it Pirate Ship brown.




The series of Pictures below show what was completed in 2010
and how the Pirate Ship looks now.








Lets Recap

October 2010:

Finished Captains Quarters roof/deck
Front Bow Planking and Cabin with Walk around deck
Front Mast Mount
Exterior Finish
Added extra mid-section support 2X6 redwood
Added exterior trim pieces

 
 
I’m almost there! The only problem is the 2010/2011 winter is coming and it’s that time of year where I start getting everything put away for the crazy Northern California winter weather.  Good thing I have all the decks sealed and the exterior weatherproofed. 

 If only I had 2 or maybe 3 more months of good weather!  Arrrgh! I guess I will just have to wait until next spring/summer of 2011. 


 4 years now of spring /summer months on this Project and each year I keep plugging away at it.
I know for sure that passion and dedication is what keeps me going and of course a good wife….. to make me lunch, dinner, and something cold to drink and bring out to the pirate ship when I forget to take time out for that kind of stuff.
Some nights I would sit inside the boat to rest for 20 - 30 minutes or so, before climbing out of it after working 8 hours straight.

 I have a list of things that need to be completed to finish this Pirate Ship project and I can say that I’m way past the half way mark.  I look at what I have accomplished, and I think to myself, am I really, REALLY, actually building a 36’ Pirate Ship Playhouse? Or is it my imagination?




Thanks for viewing me Ship Once again!
I will be posting some original stuff I have been saving up these past few months and possibly years?

Here is a sample of what I have to show you all:

I made some custom and very inexpensive portholes to install on the ship, but I don’t know if I’m going to use them or not yet.




Also since its Halloweeny Weekend coming up!

I bet your Jack'O'Lantern can't do....




 THIS!



 




Wednesday, October 27, 2010

#4 Pirate Ship Playhouse - Captains Quarters Build

HEY THAR!
This bee's Captain HighTide


Spring / Summer 2009 -Captains Quarters

I built the Captains quarters and
 upper roof/deck and also stained and clear coated
the newly completed exterior.

I began framing the Captains Quarters
with 2X4's and 4X4's


I added some 2X8's to the top of the Hull
and then topped them with 1/4 Luan underlayment.



 
 
I purposely left the vertical stud posts longer than the final length so that I could measure and cut them at the same time and not screw up and have one shorter than the rest.

So have you ever cut a piece of wood that is standing straight up and oh I don’t know about 14 feet in the air? Well once its cut free, Yep, it goes airborne because you have to cut it with your saw at a 90 degree sideways angle and it lands on the circular saw blade that’s going oh I don’t know? About 100,000 rpm and Shwing! The piece of 2x4 Fly’s over the fence about 20 feet in the air and into the neighbor’s yard, landing on the roof of their metal utility shed with a loud BANG! and then lands on the ground next to their dogs.  I told my very cool neighbor about it a week later when I saw him and he said that he didn’t see it, so maybe his two dogs made a chew toy out of it?





And there he is…. The real Captain of the ship, Blacky
 


 


ROOF/DECK






Installing the Plywood Sheathing





 
 


















Ground level Picture

Ladder Level Picture

ROOF CAMERA SHOT! BABY!

 
I did some interior work inside the Captains Quarters right before winter and was able to install some interior siding, some 2X6 tongue & groove flooring and pre-wire the electrical box and circuits for a few things such as TV, Refrigerator, Microwave, and lighting. I also installed in the floor a small vent for cooling and heat.

I found a small piece of thick tempered glass and made a glass section in the floor. I’m going to put treasure under the glass and maybe something special?
 



This is where Blacky sleeps, Under the glass.



So this is as far as I got on the Pirate ship playhouse project in 2009. I didn’t bother to spend $100 on a tarp this time to cover it up, The ship had to endure the weather that year.
 
So Thanks for viewing the Pirate Ship project
Go To Part #5 by clicking the link below

This be Captain HighTide McKnotts Signing off to go explore another
seashell by the seashore
 ?????