Building A Model Pirate Ship.

Model pirate ship building: learn about different types of pirate ships. Also, where to find plastic, wood, and paper kits – and reference material: plans, books and films.

I’ve been fascinated with model pirate ships ever since I was a kid. I was one of many. It’s funny how our brains work, but I remember thinking that all old square rigged sailing ships were “pirate ships”. And like so many young boys, I wanted one!

A rendering of a model
pirate ship in heavy seas.

What is also interesting is how media – mostly film and TV influences what we think we know. For instance, before Johnny Depp and the ship Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean, would anyone have thought a pirate ship would have been painted all black, including the sails? Don’t think so. Now an entire generation is growing up thinking, not only that it’s a historical fact, but also that most pirate ships came that way.

Piracy on the seas has been going on for thousands of years, but the time period 15th to 18th centuries seems to attract the most interest.

Pirates, Buccaneer, Privateer, or Corsair?

Today many think of pirates, privateers, corsairs and buccaneers as one and the same thing. There is a difference though. One thing in common, they were all operating on the oceans and robbing and hijacking merchant ships for profit.

Pirate – A pirate was (and still is) an outlaw and criminal with no loyalty to any state or nation. Pirate’s strength was in their community. Pirates within the crew of a ship were loyal within the group. They had their own established rules and justice – ironic as it may seem - and even elected and deposited of their leaders.

They were seen as nothing but bandits in the eyes of established nations. If caught, they would usually be punished by death, most commonly hanged.

A flag for your model pirate ship? How about the classic skull-and-bones "Jolly Roger" made famous by the pirate Edward England. More pirate flags here.
Image courtesy of WarX

Buccaneer – A buccaneer was a pirate in the Caribbean, usually Dutch, English or French, praying on Spanish shipping. Later the word became synonymous with pirate. I suppose Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean wasn’t actually a pirate, but rather a buccaneer.

Privateer – A privateer used similar methods as pirates, but endorsed by one or more nations through a letter of marque. Essentially, at time of war most navies would pay private “contractors”, as we would call them today, to harass enemy trade. Usually the enemy would not acknowledge the endorsement and treat you the same as they would a pirate. Many privateers turned free lance i.e. pirates, once peace were signed.

Corsair – A corsair was a French privateer (corsaire in French). At some point the difference got blurred and the word came to mean a romanticized version of a privateer or pirate.

Types of pirate ships.

Pirates used a number of different types of ships depending on time period, location, access and preference. In comics, cartoons and on film, like Walt Disney’s Peter Pan and Jack Sparrow’s The Wicked Wench and Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean films have greatly exaggerated features. May look great, but some realism is lost. They are much wider, shorter and shallower than real tall ships that the pirates used. None the less, the make for great conversation pieces.

Building a Pirate Ship Model.

As for the historical accuracy when it comes to building a model pirate ship – don’t get too hung up on it. There is very little documented about the actual ships, so there isn’t a whole lot to go by. It can be hard enough making sure the ships look right for the time period in question.

Generally, there is a lot more documentation on privateers than pirate ships. Since privateers were a legitimate enterprise in the eyes of at least some governments, there are records, ship plans and blueprints to a much broader extent than for pirate ships.

Plastic Pirate Ship Model Kits.

When building a pirate ship model there are a few options. The most obvious is getting a model pirate ship kit – there are plastic, paper or wooden kits available. A plastic kit is the easiest to build.

Pirate Ship Model Kits - Wood or Paper.

Paper may sound easy, but can range from easy to very involved. Wooden kits range from intermediate to difficult and typically require more tools than the other two to finish.

Pirate Ship plans.

Not intended as a pirate ship plan originally, but a good contender. A plate from Architectura Navalis Mercatoria by Chapman.
Image courtesy of SJÖHISTORISKA MUSEET, Stockholm, Sweden.

Scratch building a model pirate from a plan is another option. Locating a suitable, good quality plan is the first challenge. There are several plans available on-line for free that can be used as a basis for a model pirate ship. A good place to start is Chapmannet or the books by Howard I Chapelle from the Smithsonian. Most plans of period ships don’t show any construction detail – you’ll have to come up with that on your own.

To help choosing a ship plan and to guide in the conversion effort, consult pirate books and pirate films.

RC Pirate Ship

Not talking about the cheap plastic toy RC pirate ships out there, but beyond…

Some dedicated model builders have built quite impressive RC pirate ships. There are two ways to do this. The easiest is to use a propeller or water jet (and impeller) to drive it and let the sails be for “show” only. Some builders have added details like gun ports opening and closing, guns being rolled out and firing, masts falling and a slew of pyrotechnics – all under radio control.

The second approach is to build them to be functioning RC sailboats. This has its own set of challenges.

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