# Pirates of Vineyard Circle 2011 Build Thread



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

Here is what I have so far. I hope to be able to update this frequently. As the title says, I'm going with a pirate themed yard haunt this year rather than a walk-through style "haunted house" like I've done in the past. The pics I am posting on here on likely going to be prototypes at this point or just works in progress, so if they look a little rough, that's because I'm still playing with them. 

6-18-2011:

Here are the prototype versions of my pirate captain and what I'm going to call the "corpse cannon". The captain is recycled from last year. He used to be in a coffin and he would lean out of the coffin and say a Halloween poem. This year he graduated to captain of a wrecked pirate ship. His head is a hacked Gemmy skull and his torso and right right arm are powered by deer motors. He turns his waist and raises his arm, which will eventually be holding a sword. The "corpse cannon" is a left over foam skull and the body is made from 1/2'' pvc and 1/2'' drip line tubing. He will be dressed in costume, so the majority of the body will not be seen, the rib cage is simply to give him shape. He will be plumbed with a 3/4'' sch 80 pvc air line triggered by a motion sensor. He's basically a low-pressure air cannon that looks like a corpse. When ToT's enter the "cave" to "seek the cursed tressure", i.e. CANDY, he will be posted up in a corner and will give them a nice little low psi blast of air from his mouth, like he's exhaling on you....yuck. Enjoy!


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

Sorry the pics are sideways, not sure what happened there


----------



## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

I love the idea! Prepare for puddles near the candy


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

I was thinking of puting 2 outlets on the corpse, 1 in the mouth and one maybe down by the ankles because the skeleton is nearly 6' tall and the shorter kids won't get the air blast. I also have a toe-pincher coffin from last year. Should I put the corpse in the coffin, maybe holding a handful of jewelry or something, or simply stick him to the wall with a sword, like in the POTC ride? Any feedback?


----------



## halloween71 (Aug 9, 2007)

Must have a vid so I can steal it for my pirate theme lol.


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

halloween71 said:


> Must have a vid so I can steal it for my pirate theme lol.


I'll post one....some day....


----------



## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

Great idea ...


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Looks like a good start

BTW, there's a limit to the number of pictures you can post as thumbnail attachments (I think it's 10) so you might want to switch to a photo hosting service of some kind if you're going to have a lot of photos.


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

RoxyBlue said:


> Looks like a good start
> 
> BTW, there's a limit to the number of pictures you can post as thumbnail attachments (I think it's 10) so you might want to switch to a photo hosting service of some kind if you're going to have a lot of photos.


I'll delete the old ones as I go. Once everyone has seen them on my build thread I'll move the older ones to my profile and post the new ones on my thread.


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

So what do you all think I should do with the skeleton? In a toe pincher or not? I also decided to add a nasty looking beard and mustache to his face so when the air blows from his mouth it will blow the mustache hair at the ToT's also


----------



## CreeepyCathy (Mar 28, 2009)

loving it!


----------



## kallen (Jun 23, 2008)

hmmm.. could always put him on a keg or barrel? not sure of the coffin with the pirate theme myself


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

kallen said:


> hmmm.. could always put him on a keg or barrel? not sure of the coffin with the pirate theme myself


I don't think the barrel thing would work in this instance. The skeleton is about 6' tall and is made of pvc. I need to have him upright because I'm puting him in a tight place. I was thinking of puting him in the coffin to hide some of the plumbing for the air cannon, but I can make due without the coffin. I don't want to ruin the effect by puting something non-pirate-ey in a pirate themed haunt, so I wasn't sure if the coffin would really work on not. Thanks for the input!


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

*Corpse head in progress*

This is the progress I've made on the head for my air cannon/ static pirate prop. He still needs his beard finished and paint or stain. I did the corpsing with liquid nails and paper towels.

P.S. If anyone knows why my pics keep showing up sideways, let me know. They aren't like this when I preview my posts, but always show up like this...I don't get it


----------



## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Great job so far!


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

Today I built my cannons and started my shipwreck scene. Also started building some other props, like "gun powder" crates, etc. Found a cool chest that would look good in my display, so I stenciled the "East India Trading Co." logo on it and plan to fill it with treasure.


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

*Theme change!!*

So the pirate thing wasn't going so well. To make the way I wanted it, I would have had to spend to much money. Spending money isn't in the budget this year, so I dug out some crap I made in 2009 for the big cemetary scene that I WAS going to use that never came to fruition. Now I'm doing a graveyard. I had a few half-built corpses that will now be groundbreakers (because they are done from the waist up!) and have about 13 foam headstones from years past. I had some LED spot lights I made last year and never used, and I just finished 2 columns with statues on the top that I made in '09 and never used. I had a ton of MDF in my garage because I also build speaker boxes, and that worked great for the monument/column things I'm making. The cannons that I made are now going to be pillars. I'll post pics sometime soon


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

*Pics*

Here is one of my monuments


----------



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

*Skull Monument*

This one is in progress. It will be very detailed because MY NAME is going be be on the marker. It's about 70% done here. If the monument topper looks off center, it wasn't secured down in the pic. I just sat it up there so I could take the picture


----------

