Michael Heer
Sep 19, 2007, 07:39 AM
!Introduction
| spec2
|
| @nite-06a.jpg
|> <b>Double Click:</b> |< On the above pic!
|> <b>Length:</b> |< 40.5"
|> <b>Width:</b> |< 10.5"
|> <b>Height:</b> |< 42"
|> <b>Weight:</b> |< 10 lb 5 oz
|> <b>:Keel</b> |< 3 lbs, attaches with thumb screws
|> <b>Servo:</b> |< Aquacraft standard size servo
|> <b>Transmitter:</b> |< 2 channel AquaCraft by Futaba FM
|> <b>Receiver:</b> |< Futaba 2 channel
|> <b>Battery:</b> |< 6 cell Nicad pack
|> <b>Motor:</b> |< 550 brushed
|> <b>ESC:</b> |< Aquacraft
|> <b>Price:</b> |< recommended $299.99, paid $150.00
|> <b>Manufacturer:</b> |< <a href=http://www.AquaCraftmodels.com/index.html>Aquacraft</a>
|> <b>Available From:</b> |< <a href=http://www.Towerhobby.com>Tower Hobby</a>
If this were a "normal" review of the King's Ransom ship by AquaCraft I would be going into some detail about the pluses and minuses of the boat as I bought it from Tower Hobby. But the purpose of this article is to show you how I made my King's Ransom a night time Mexican party ship as well as a night time haunted pirate ship! I'll also touch on what some others have done with their ships to make them into their personal pirate ships.
For only $150.00 (Tower Hobby sale) I got an almost ready to run large ship (over 40" long) complete with motor, ESC and radio gear already installed. The extra items I needed (battery pack, charger and 8-AA cells) I already had on hand.
Easily completed in an evening, assembly consisted of installing the masts and rigging. Despite having display sails, the ship is powered with a 550 electric motor - good for me since I wanted to operate the ship at night under calm conditions.
Thanks to its wide and multiple decks it can be a seasonal decoration that can be displayed indoors and still be operated in the water with the quick addition of its weighted keel (attaches via built in thumb screws).
(FYI, the masts are plastic and not designed to take the force of the sails being filled with wind nor is the boat otherwise designed to operate under sail. The King's Ransom is a motorized launch with decorative masts and that was exactly what I wanted.)
!!The Experiences that Launched this Project
In December 2006 we had a family vacation in Nuevo Vallarta just north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. One of the fun things about Puerto Vallarta is their pirate party ship the Marigalante. The Marigalante has family day outings and "adult" evening dinner cruises. My wife and I had seen the ship from a distance coming back to port several nights the previous year. The ship was lit-up and shooting off fireworks and having a "battle" as it fired its cannon at a skiff by downtown Puerto Vallarta. In 2006 we booked a dinner cruise for our family.
I saw pictures online of the Marigalante, and I was struck by how much she looked like the King's Ransom. In fact, if miniature white lights were added to the King's Ransom it could look like the Marigalante party ship. The following Tuesday they released the DVD for the second <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> movie, and the idea of making the King's Ransom as a haunted pirate ship was launched.
From the pictures below of the Marigalante you can see how much it looks like The King's Ransom. The Marigalante is a scale reproduction of the ship the world knows as The Santa Maria, Columbus's lead ship in his first journey to the Americas in 1492. To convert the King's Ransom into a stand off scale replica of the Marigalante all I needed were the right lights.
@mexican pirate ship 06-52.jpg:The Marigalante pirate pleasure boat in Puerto Vallarta Mexico on a day party cruise.
@mexican pirate ship 06-53.jpg:Remote location for snorkeling and then lunch.
@mexican pirate ship 06-55.jpg:We were on a day cruise on another ship when I took this picture.
@mexican pirate ship 06-05.jpg:My wife and I at the start of the dinner cruise.
@mexican pirate ship 06-06.jpg:Part of the crew flexing their muscles for my wife.
@mexican pirate ship 06-11.jpg:What's a pirate ship without pirate treasure?
@mexican pirate ship 06-17.jpg:The Marigalante's rigging was not exactly a scale reproduction.
@mexican pirate ship 06-48.jpg:The Marigalante lit-up at night, back from a pirate party cruise. It is a replica of the Santa Maria.
!Kit Contents
My ship arrived in a nice strong shipping box from Tower Hobby. The finished hull was packed in foam with all items below deck properly installed. The transmitter, the masts and rigging as well as the four man crew and a few additional deck parts arrived safely in their individual small boxes and the instructions came safely bagged.
@KR 001.jpg:We can't have a review without mentioning: a large, strong, brown, shipping box...
@KR 004.jpg: or that the "Ship" was well packed in foam.
@KR 005.jpg:Below the deck the ship was assembled and ready to run.
@KR 006.jpg:Here is the pistol grip and wheel transmitter that came with my ship on channel 72.
@KR 007.jpg:Accessories came individually bagged and boxed.
@KR 008.jpg:Masts arrived bagged and boxed and were ready to install and were complete with rigging attached and ready to be screwed to the hull.
@DSC07456.jpg:The ship comes with this working stand to use when the weighted keel has been attached for operation. Here it is in the back of my wife's van.
*Additional Items Needed
*6-Cell battery pack
*Charger for battery pack
*8-AA batteries for transmitter
!Ship Operation
Buy some Grim Racer Grease and put it around the propeller shaft inside and out. Some at the top of the rudder post is also a good idea. Even with that precaution, expect some water to get into the hull. Without those precautions, check on your ship after 10 minutes.
I haven't operated with the sails down, but the "cobwebs" on my Haunted Ship acted like sails in just a slight breeze. With a sudden breeze and incoming Delta tide, it went way over but righted back up. Oil the thumbscrews on the keel per the directions for ease of installing and removing.
The ship's motor and radio system is powered via a 6-cell rechargeable Nicad battery pack. The transmitter is powered by 8-AA batteries. The transmitter allows me to control the throttle and the rudder. The boat was able to travel much faster than I wanted it to travel in normal operation. As will be seen in the videos, my operation of the ship can be best described as “leisurely.”
!Ship Modification
Decorative modifications and modifications to all three of the ship’s hatches to gain better access to the inside of the hull. The hatches were held in place with two rubber bands each attached to a hook under the hatch. The hook was attached to a big block of wood. I wanted the space used by that hook and the block of wood to store power packs in the front two hatches in the boat. Additionally, I wanted to be able to completely remove the hatch covers to get better access to the inside of the hull to allow me to more easily hide, secure and access battery packs that powered the various lights I added to the ship.
@CU 003.jpg:This is the before picture. The 3 hatch covers all had blocks of wood with hooks on the bottom and were held in place with rubber bands.
I glued very small but strong magnets to the front corners of the hatch covers and the back middle of the hatch covers. With careful eyeballing, I drilled out holes for the magnets in the hatch cover supports attached to the hull. This allowed the hatch covers to fit flush as they had originally on the deck and the magnets to extend down in the holes I drilled. Under the holes in the hatch supports, I glued magnets that were larger then the holes I had drilled making sure they were facing to attract the magnets on the hatch covers. When I placed the hatch covers back in place, the magnets securely held them in place. NOTE: The rubber bands actually made for stronger pull in keeping the covers in place. If you don't need easy access I don't recommend this modification.
@DSC07282.jpg:Hooks and wood blocks were removed from the hatch covers and 3 strong magnets were added as shown here.
@DSC07281.jpg:Holes drilled in the hatch cover supports in the hull for the magnets to fit. Larger magnets were glued under these holes in the supports to secure the lids.
@DSC07283.jpg:These changes allow for easy access to my lighting controls in the hull. The rubber bands held the hatch covers more firmly in place.
!!Adding Some Permanent Lights to the King's Ransom
Although I wanted to be able to seasonally change the ship's appearance I did want to have some permanent lights that helped with orientation and navigation. I wanted to have a red and a green light toward the front of the boat on the sides and possibly some lanterns and/or corner mounted lights on the stern of the boat. I toyed with the idea of installing lights at the stern that could be changed seasonally but ultimately opted not to do that.
@KL-2.jpg:Magnetically attached flashers that run off of hearing aid batteries that are removable for display of day use.
@DSC06933.jpg:The green flasher in action with the permanent lights.
@kings lighting-07.jpg:Lantern obtained from Bearly Big Enough, a doll-store here in Stockton. Marker turned the white electrical cord brown where it would be seen.
@kings lighting-04.jpg:I drilled a hole in the middle mast to add a yardarm to hold the lantern.
@kings lighting-02.jpg:The yard arm (bamboo squer) was secured in place by friction and a touch of CA.
@kings lighting-08.jpg:The lantern in place just needing to have its wire tied against the yardarm and mast with black thread.
@kings lighting-09.jpg:A large hole was drilled so the electrical plug of the carriage light could fit into the hull.
@kings lighting-01.jpg:The first carriage light installed and the receiver antenna made mostly black with magic marker.
@kings lighting-10.jpg:The three light plugs went into one extension cord for ease of wiring, but they didn't work on the ship since with movement, the wires came loose, so all five lights were hard wired together.
@KL-1.jpg:The wires and battery pack are out of the way of the operating gear and accessible through the front hatch.
@KL-3.jpg:Two high quality carriage lights from the doll house mounted on the stern of the ship. Both lights were off. That is just the flash on the brass of the light on the left.
@DSC06932.jpg:The "dollhouse" lights. Nice and bright and built and working on 12 volts.
@DSC06931.jpg:Side view of the lights amid ship.
@DSC06935.jpg:The five dollhouse lights with wiring cost me $66.00 but I bought high end (expensive) lights for the stern of the ship.
!Theme Lighting: First, The Mexican Party Ship
!!Party ship lighting
With the five permanent lights installed and the wiring and power pack secured under the front hatch, I was ready to create my first ship with theme lighting. I added a string of 50 Lemax lights to the rigging starting at the base of the rear mast, securing them with black thread. I went up the back and over the top of the rigging to the front mast and down the mast part way. Then starting from the bow and going out the bow spirit and up the rigging to the front mast and across to the main mast and down with a second string of Lemax lights.
The battery box in back is secured in the rearmost hatch with Velcro to keep it from shifting in the hull. The power pack for the string in the front is secured in the front hatch. Two AA batteries power each of these strings of lights. Next I added an 8 foot white neon glow wire that is powered by two AA batteries. Once again the power pack is stored in the front hatch, and I drilled a hole on the port side of the main deck where the glow wire comes out of the hull. The neon wire is secured around the railings of the ship using black thread to tie it in place and thin strips of tape where there wasn't any place to tie the wire. This combination of lights makes it very easy to see the ship at night. I added the four crew men from the King's Ransom and some from <i>The Pirates of the Caribbean</i> collection to populate the deck.
@DSC06936.jpg:Two strings of Lemax lights strung around the rigging as part one of the Mexican party ship decoration process. Double click to see lights.
@DSC07015.jpg:
@DSC07016.jpg:
@DSC07017.jpg:
@nite-05a.jpg:
@nite-02a.jpg:
@nite-04a.jpg:
@nite-06a.jpg:
@nite-07a.jpg:
@nite-09.jpg:The author retrieving his ship from the cement pond.
@nite-11.jpg:Captain Dick Andersen sailing the Marigalante.
+Marigalante.wmv:The King's Ransom as the Marigalante party ship from Puerto Vallarta!
!Converting the King's Ransom to a Haunted Ship
!!Other Captains’ Haunted Ships
I am certainly not the first to convert the King's Ransom to the Black Pearl or some other haunted ship. A few examples have been shared in RC Power and with the permission of their captains, I am sharing some of them with you. I recommend that you double click on the pictures below to get the full effect of the changes.
@pirate_full_view.jpg:Jediwalker dyed and slashed his sails while staining his boat with washes and adding additional items to his ship's deck.
Here is another version of the Black Pearl where Paul Mirich took parts from the Black Pearl Playset and added them to the King's Ransom. Paul added the outside of the playset's "Captain's Cabin" to his King's Ransom/Black Pearl and added an interesting lighting effect. He also took his ship to a large lake one day where the wind blew it around and broke the front mast. He was able to repair it and make it stronger then before.
@BlackP1.jpg:This is a picture of the Black Pearl Playset. A source for parts.
@BlackP10.jpg:Here is the cabin cut from the playset and ready to be added to the King's Ransom.
@BlackP3.jpg:Here you can see the cabin has been added to the King's Ransom.
@BlackP8.jpg:Here is a work in progress shot as he added his lighting.
@BlackP4a.jpg:Here is the captain's cabin with one of the KR pirates and back lit for effect.
@BlackP6.jpg:Here is part of his <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> movie crew.
@bryssa1.jpg:Paul's Black Pearl out to "sea."
@lagoonvalley.jpg:Paul's ship sailing on a large lake before the wind came up.
!Making my Haunted Ship
I wanted my own version of a haunted pirate ship and not the Black Pearl. Skeletons, treasure, cobwebs and green lighting are the features I saw in my mind for my pirate ship. The availability of some Caribbean crewmen was mostly a factor of availability and cost. While I could remove the lighting I had added to make the ship my Mexican party ship I decided to try just leaving it in place and not turn it on. If needed, I could also lighten the ship by removing the 6 AA batteries that power the separate strings of lights and neon wire used for the party ship. As it turned out I ended up using the white neon wire in a flashing mode for my haunted pirate ship. All batteries stayed onboard ship.
For the haunted ship I ended up using a Parkflyer set from Glowire that has three strands wired to one plug and a second plug for an additional wire. I got an additional five foot section of Glowire. The Glowires were going to set the scene but I didn't want them to be seen directly. I secured one wire each to the three masts with the power source hidden in the hull and the neon wires coming out of the hull near the masts through holes I drilled. After tying the green neon wires to the masts, I added artificial cobweb to the masts to cover the Glowire and hoped for the cobwebs to be illuminated from within. I ran the five foot Glowire to the front of the bowspirit and up to the front mast and then to main mast. Artificial cobwebs were added to the rigging. The final step was adding the treasure to the main deck hatch cover and a few more pirates to the ship.
*Items Used
*Additional toy pirates from <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> and Lemax collection for Halloween
*Lemax Halloween pirate treasure scene
*Glowire kit for parkflyers in the color green
*Extra 5 foot green wire for the Glowire unit
*Artificial cobwebs
@DSC07289.jpg:The Glowire parkflyer kit sells for about $35.00 and has three strands 3' long. I picked green for the haunted pirate ship.
@DSC07291.jpg:The Glowire unit is powered by a 3 cell LiPoly battery. I got an extra 5' long green wire.
@DSC07422.jpg:The three strands of green Glowire secured to the masts and the 5 ft section positioned in the rigging up front. The white Glowire was pulsing.
!!!Glowire
The Hobbico version of neon-like wire comes with one strand of plug-in wire and a controller with two wire plugs and one male servo receiver connector. The glow portion of the wire was about 22-23 inches long with a 6-7 inch lead. You can buy one power unit and an extra wire and have two lit wires. This was designed to be powered off of a receiver and and would add minimal weight. Great for a parkflyer if the receiver has an extra connector or two; but no so good for a two channel surface receiver.
@DSC07418.jpg:This is the Hobbico neon wire unit in green. The red wire is a second wire I purchased separately. The power unit will light both wires from one plug via a receiver.
The Glowire brand unit came with three wires on one plug and a number of options for additional Glowires. The units power was up to me. I went with a Dean's micro connector and powered the unit off of one of my 1,350 mAh 3-cell LiPo packs. The wires in the three strand are 3 feet long and I bought an optional 5 foot strand of Glowire. As discussed in the article I went with the Glowire Brand for this project and will use the Hobbico wires with a park flyer or two.
@DSC07419.jpg:The Glowire Brand comes with three strands and an extra plug. You can pick your three colors. I picked green, green and green for my haunted ship and an extra five feet of green wire as well.
!!Completion
The flashing white Glowire and the green Glowire gave an interesting effect, but not quite what I pictured in my mind and it was definitely not bright enough to show the pirates. The ship needed something more. Artificial cobwebs helped set the scene and partially hid a pair of Lemax Village battery powered floodlights. I secured the treasure and skeletons to the main hatch cover and the rest of the crew around the ship.
@KR 010.jpg:The flying Dutchman crew members
@DSC07295.jpg:Jack Sparrow and his crew out of the package
@DSC07293.jpg:The Lemax treasure pirate scene comes from Michael's craft store.
@DSC07294.jpg:The four man crew that came with the ship from AquaCraft.
!!Is This For a Beginner?
YES! the King's Ransom comes RTR and the final assembly work was easy. The ship can be operated as-is or can be modified to make it your custom ship be it for party or haunted pirate ship. Have fun with it... in calm conditions. Do get the grease and lube the propeller shaft inside and out and the top of the rudder post.
!!Video/Photo Gallery
@DSC07448.jpg:Here the cobwebs have been added to the ship.
@DSC07449.jpg:The camera doesn't show it very well but the cobwebs do show to the eye with just the Glowires illuminated.
@D-29.jpg:
@D-36.jpg:
@D-43.jpg:
@D-46.jpg:
@D-45.jpg:
@D-41.jpg:
@D-40.jpg:
@DSC07457.jpg:
@DSC07463.jpg:Ship entering the twilight zone.
@DSC07459.jpg:
+FinalPirate.wmv:Mike's nighttime Haunted Pirate Ship.
!Conclusion
I have really enjoyed both making and operating my special versions of the King's Ransom. I spent more on the lighting then I planned but it looks good. Friends have enjoyed seeing it on display in my house but my real enjoyment is taking it out on a local lake, pond or on the Delta (per the second video above) on calm evenings. On a small lake surrounded by homes it can really attract attention that slowly builds as people look outside at night and see this lighted object sailing on the lake.
My thanks to Captain Dick Andersen for sailing while I took video and stills and to Drew Meyers the "Warden of the Marshes" for letting Dick and I sail on the CA Delta from his dock. My thanks to Jediwalker and Paul Mirich for sharing their ships. Finally, my thanks to my editors past and present. AnnMarie for encouraging me to spend my money and pursue my wacky ideas and Angela for editing this piece and helping to pull it together.
PS: For those of you near Columbus, Ohio, I understand that they have their own full size Santa Maria that has been made up as a haunted pirate ship for Halloween in past years. Check it out if you have a chance.
| spec2
|
| @nite-06a.jpg
|> <b>Double Click:</b> |< On the above pic!
|> <b>Length:</b> |< 40.5"
|> <b>Width:</b> |< 10.5"
|> <b>Height:</b> |< 42"
|> <b>Weight:</b> |< 10 lb 5 oz
|> <b>:Keel</b> |< 3 lbs, attaches with thumb screws
|> <b>Servo:</b> |< Aquacraft standard size servo
|> <b>Transmitter:</b> |< 2 channel AquaCraft by Futaba FM
|> <b>Receiver:</b> |< Futaba 2 channel
|> <b>Battery:</b> |< 6 cell Nicad pack
|> <b>Motor:</b> |< 550 brushed
|> <b>ESC:</b> |< Aquacraft
|> <b>Price:</b> |< recommended $299.99, paid $150.00
|> <b>Manufacturer:</b> |< <a href=http://www.AquaCraftmodels.com/index.html>Aquacraft</a>
|> <b>Available From:</b> |< <a href=http://www.Towerhobby.com>Tower Hobby</a>
If this were a "normal" review of the King's Ransom ship by AquaCraft I would be going into some detail about the pluses and minuses of the boat as I bought it from Tower Hobby. But the purpose of this article is to show you how I made my King's Ransom a night time Mexican party ship as well as a night time haunted pirate ship! I'll also touch on what some others have done with their ships to make them into their personal pirate ships.
For only $150.00 (Tower Hobby sale) I got an almost ready to run large ship (over 40" long) complete with motor, ESC and radio gear already installed. The extra items I needed (battery pack, charger and 8-AA cells) I already had on hand.
Easily completed in an evening, assembly consisted of installing the masts and rigging. Despite having display sails, the ship is powered with a 550 electric motor - good for me since I wanted to operate the ship at night under calm conditions.
Thanks to its wide and multiple decks it can be a seasonal decoration that can be displayed indoors and still be operated in the water with the quick addition of its weighted keel (attaches via built in thumb screws).
(FYI, the masts are plastic and not designed to take the force of the sails being filled with wind nor is the boat otherwise designed to operate under sail. The King's Ransom is a motorized launch with decorative masts and that was exactly what I wanted.)
!!The Experiences that Launched this Project
In December 2006 we had a family vacation in Nuevo Vallarta just north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. One of the fun things about Puerto Vallarta is their pirate party ship the Marigalante. The Marigalante has family day outings and "adult" evening dinner cruises. My wife and I had seen the ship from a distance coming back to port several nights the previous year. The ship was lit-up and shooting off fireworks and having a "battle" as it fired its cannon at a skiff by downtown Puerto Vallarta. In 2006 we booked a dinner cruise for our family.
I saw pictures online of the Marigalante, and I was struck by how much she looked like the King's Ransom. In fact, if miniature white lights were added to the King's Ransom it could look like the Marigalante party ship. The following Tuesday they released the DVD for the second <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> movie, and the idea of making the King's Ransom as a haunted pirate ship was launched.
From the pictures below of the Marigalante you can see how much it looks like The King's Ransom. The Marigalante is a scale reproduction of the ship the world knows as The Santa Maria, Columbus's lead ship in his first journey to the Americas in 1492. To convert the King's Ransom into a stand off scale replica of the Marigalante all I needed were the right lights.
@mexican pirate ship 06-52.jpg:The Marigalante pirate pleasure boat in Puerto Vallarta Mexico on a day party cruise.
@mexican pirate ship 06-53.jpg:Remote location for snorkeling and then lunch.
@mexican pirate ship 06-55.jpg:We were on a day cruise on another ship when I took this picture.
@mexican pirate ship 06-05.jpg:My wife and I at the start of the dinner cruise.
@mexican pirate ship 06-06.jpg:Part of the crew flexing their muscles for my wife.
@mexican pirate ship 06-11.jpg:What's a pirate ship without pirate treasure?
@mexican pirate ship 06-17.jpg:The Marigalante's rigging was not exactly a scale reproduction.
@mexican pirate ship 06-48.jpg:The Marigalante lit-up at night, back from a pirate party cruise. It is a replica of the Santa Maria.
!Kit Contents
My ship arrived in a nice strong shipping box from Tower Hobby. The finished hull was packed in foam with all items below deck properly installed. The transmitter, the masts and rigging as well as the four man crew and a few additional deck parts arrived safely in their individual small boxes and the instructions came safely bagged.
@KR 001.jpg:We can't have a review without mentioning: a large, strong, brown, shipping box...
@KR 004.jpg: or that the "Ship" was well packed in foam.
@KR 005.jpg:Below the deck the ship was assembled and ready to run.
@KR 006.jpg:Here is the pistol grip and wheel transmitter that came with my ship on channel 72.
@KR 007.jpg:Accessories came individually bagged and boxed.
@KR 008.jpg:Masts arrived bagged and boxed and were ready to install and were complete with rigging attached and ready to be screwed to the hull.
@DSC07456.jpg:The ship comes with this working stand to use when the weighted keel has been attached for operation. Here it is in the back of my wife's van.
*Additional Items Needed
*6-Cell battery pack
*Charger for battery pack
*8-AA batteries for transmitter
!Ship Operation
Buy some Grim Racer Grease and put it around the propeller shaft inside and out. Some at the top of the rudder post is also a good idea. Even with that precaution, expect some water to get into the hull. Without those precautions, check on your ship after 10 minutes.
I haven't operated with the sails down, but the "cobwebs" on my Haunted Ship acted like sails in just a slight breeze. With a sudden breeze and incoming Delta tide, it went way over but righted back up. Oil the thumbscrews on the keel per the directions for ease of installing and removing.
The ship's motor and radio system is powered via a 6-cell rechargeable Nicad battery pack. The transmitter is powered by 8-AA batteries. The transmitter allows me to control the throttle and the rudder. The boat was able to travel much faster than I wanted it to travel in normal operation. As will be seen in the videos, my operation of the ship can be best described as “leisurely.”
!Ship Modification
Decorative modifications and modifications to all three of the ship’s hatches to gain better access to the inside of the hull. The hatches were held in place with two rubber bands each attached to a hook under the hatch. The hook was attached to a big block of wood. I wanted the space used by that hook and the block of wood to store power packs in the front two hatches in the boat. Additionally, I wanted to be able to completely remove the hatch covers to get better access to the inside of the hull to allow me to more easily hide, secure and access battery packs that powered the various lights I added to the ship.
@CU 003.jpg:This is the before picture. The 3 hatch covers all had blocks of wood with hooks on the bottom and were held in place with rubber bands.
I glued very small but strong magnets to the front corners of the hatch covers and the back middle of the hatch covers. With careful eyeballing, I drilled out holes for the magnets in the hatch cover supports attached to the hull. This allowed the hatch covers to fit flush as they had originally on the deck and the magnets to extend down in the holes I drilled. Under the holes in the hatch supports, I glued magnets that were larger then the holes I had drilled making sure they were facing to attract the magnets on the hatch covers. When I placed the hatch covers back in place, the magnets securely held them in place. NOTE: The rubber bands actually made for stronger pull in keeping the covers in place. If you don't need easy access I don't recommend this modification.
@DSC07282.jpg:Hooks and wood blocks were removed from the hatch covers and 3 strong magnets were added as shown here.
@DSC07281.jpg:Holes drilled in the hatch cover supports in the hull for the magnets to fit. Larger magnets were glued under these holes in the supports to secure the lids.
@DSC07283.jpg:These changes allow for easy access to my lighting controls in the hull. The rubber bands held the hatch covers more firmly in place.
!!Adding Some Permanent Lights to the King's Ransom
Although I wanted to be able to seasonally change the ship's appearance I did want to have some permanent lights that helped with orientation and navigation. I wanted to have a red and a green light toward the front of the boat on the sides and possibly some lanterns and/or corner mounted lights on the stern of the boat. I toyed with the idea of installing lights at the stern that could be changed seasonally but ultimately opted not to do that.
@KL-2.jpg:Magnetically attached flashers that run off of hearing aid batteries that are removable for display of day use.
@DSC06933.jpg:The green flasher in action with the permanent lights.
@kings lighting-07.jpg:Lantern obtained from Bearly Big Enough, a doll-store here in Stockton. Marker turned the white electrical cord brown where it would be seen.
@kings lighting-04.jpg:I drilled a hole in the middle mast to add a yardarm to hold the lantern.
@kings lighting-02.jpg:The yard arm (bamboo squer) was secured in place by friction and a touch of CA.
@kings lighting-08.jpg:The lantern in place just needing to have its wire tied against the yardarm and mast with black thread.
@kings lighting-09.jpg:A large hole was drilled so the electrical plug of the carriage light could fit into the hull.
@kings lighting-01.jpg:The first carriage light installed and the receiver antenna made mostly black with magic marker.
@kings lighting-10.jpg:The three light plugs went into one extension cord for ease of wiring, but they didn't work on the ship since with movement, the wires came loose, so all five lights were hard wired together.
@KL-1.jpg:The wires and battery pack are out of the way of the operating gear and accessible through the front hatch.
@KL-3.jpg:Two high quality carriage lights from the doll house mounted on the stern of the ship. Both lights were off. That is just the flash on the brass of the light on the left.
@DSC06932.jpg:The "dollhouse" lights. Nice and bright and built and working on 12 volts.
@DSC06931.jpg:Side view of the lights amid ship.
@DSC06935.jpg:The five dollhouse lights with wiring cost me $66.00 but I bought high end (expensive) lights for the stern of the ship.
!Theme Lighting: First, The Mexican Party Ship
!!Party ship lighting
With the five permanent lights installed and the wiring and power pack secured under the front hatch, I was ready to create my first ship with theme lighting. I added a string of 50 Lemax lights to the rigging starting at the base of the rear mast, securing them with black thread. I went up the back and over the top of the rigging to the front mast and down the mast part way. Then starting from the bow and going out the bow spirit and up the rigging to the front mast and across to the main mast and down with a second string of Lemax lights.
The battery box in back is secured in the rearmost hatch with Velcro to keep it from shifting in the hull. The power pack for the string in the front is secured in the front hatch. Two AA batteries power each of these strings of lights. Next I added an 8 foot white neon glow wire that is powered by two AA batteries. Once again the power pack is stored in the front hatch, and I drilled a hole on the port side of the main deck where the glow wire comes out of the hull. The neon wire is secured around the railings of the ship using black thread to tie it in place and thin strips of tape where there wasn't any place to tie the wire. This combination of lights makes it very easy to see the ship at night. I added the four crew men from the King's Ransom and some from <i>The Pirates of the Caribbean</i> collection to populate the deck.
@DSC06936.jpg:Two strings of Lemax lights strung around the rigging as part one of the Mexican party ship decoration process. Double click to see lights.
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@nite-09.jpg:The author retrieving his ship from the cement pond.
@nite-11.jpg:Captain Dick Andersen sailing the Marigalante.
+Marigalante.wmv:The King's Ransom as the Marigalante party ship from Puerto Vallarta!
!Converting the King's Ransom to a Haunted Ship
!!Other Captains’ Haunted Ships
I am certainly not the first to convert the King's Ransom to the Black Pearl or some other haunted ship. A few examples have been shared in RC Power and with the permission of their captains, I am sharing some of them with you. I recommend that you double click on the pictures below to get the full effect of the changes.
@pirate_full_view.jpg:Jediwalker dyed and slashed his sails while staining his boat with washes and adding additional items to his ship's deck.
Here is another version of the Black Pearl where Paul Mirich took parts from the Black Pearl Playset and added them to the King's Ransom. Paul added the outside of the playset's "Captain's Cabin" to his King's Ransom/Black Pearl and added an interesting lighting effect. He also took his ship to a large lake one day where the wind blew it around and broke the front mast. He was able to repair it and make it stronger then before.
@BlackP1.jpg:This is a picture of the Black Pearl Playset. A source for parts.
@BlackP10.jpg:Here is the cabin cut from the playset and ready to be added to the King's Ransom.
@BlackP3.jpg:Here you can see the cabin has been added to the King's Ransom.
@BlackP8.jpg:Here is a work in progress shot as he added his lighting.
@BlackP4a.jpg:Here is the captain's cabin with one of the KR pirates and back lit for effect.
@BlackP6.jpg:Here is part of his <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> movie crew.
@bryssa1.jpg:Paul's Black Pearl out to "sea."
@lagoonvalley.jpg:Paul's ship sailing on a large lake before the wind came up.
!Making my Haunted Ship
I wanted my own version of a haunted pirate ship and not the Black Pearl. Skeletons, treasure, cobwebs and green lighting are the features I saw in my mind for my pirate ship. The availability of some Caribbean crewmen was mostly a factor of availability and cost. While I could remove the lighting I had added to make the ship my Mexican party ship I decided to try just leaving it in place and not turn it on. If needed, I could also lighten the ship by removing the 6 AA batteries that power the separate strings of lights and neon wire used for the party ship. As it turned out I ended up using the white neon wire in a flashing mode for my haunted pirate ship. All batteries stayed onboard ship.
For the haunted ship I ended up using a Parkflyer set from Glowire that has three strands wired to one plug and a second plug for an additional wire. I got an additional five foot section of Glowire. The Glowires were going to set the scene but I didn't want them to be seen directly. I secured one wire each to the three masts with the power source hidden in the hull and the neon wires coming out of the hull near the masts through holes I drilled. After tying the green neon wires to the masts, I added artificial cobweb to the masts to cover the Glowire and hoped for the cobwebs to be illuminated from within. I ran the five foot Glowire to the front of the bowspirit and up to the front mast and then to main mast. Artificial cobwebs were added to the rigging. The final step was adding the treasure to the main deck hatch cover and a few more pirates to the ship.
*Items Used
*Additional toy pirates from <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> and Lemax collection for Halloween
*Lemax Halloween pirate treasure scene
*Glowire kit for parkflyers in the color green
*Extra 5 foot green wire for the Glowire unit
*Artificial cobwebs
@DSC07289.jpg:The Glowire parkflyer kit sells for about $35.00 and has three strands 3' long. I picked green for the haunted pirate ship.
@DSC07291.jpg:The Glowire unit is powered by a 3 cell LiPoly battery. I got an extra 5' long green wire.
@DSC07422.jpg:The three strands of green Glowire secured to the masts and the 5 ft section positioned in the rigging up front. The white Glowire was pulsing.
!!!Glowire
The Hobbico version of neon-like wire comes with one strand of plug-in wire and a controller with two wire plugs and one male servo receiver connector. The glow portion of the wire was about 22-23 inches long with a 6-7 inch lead. You can buy one power unit and an extra wire and have two lit wires. This was designed to be powered off of a receiver and and would add minimal weight. Great for a parkflyer if the receiver has an extra connector or two; but no so good for a two channel surface receiver.
@DSC07418.jpg:This is the Hobbico neon wire unit in green. The red wire is a second wire I purchased separately. The power unit will light both wires from one plug via a receiver.
The Glowire brand unit came with three wires on one plug and a number of options for additional Glowires. The units power was up to me. I went with a Dean's micro connector and powered the unit off of one of my 1,350 mAh 3-cell LiPo packs. The wires in the three strand are 3 feet long and I bought an optional 5 foot strand of Glowire. As discussed in the article I went with the Glowire Brand for this project and will use the Hobbico wires with a park flyer or two.
@DSC07419.jpg:The Glowire Brand comes with three strands and an extra plug. You can pick your three colors. I picked green, green and green for my haunted ship and an extra five feet of green wire as well.
!!Completion
The flashing white Glowire and the green Glowire gave an interesting effect, but not quite what I pictured in my mind and it was definitely not bright enough to show the pirates. The ship needed something more. Artificial cobwebs helped set the scene and partially hid a pair of Lemax Village battery powered floodlights. I secured the treasure and skeletons to the main hatch cover and the rest of the crew around the ship.
@KR 010.jpg:The flying Dutchman crew members
@DSC07295.jpg:Jack Sparrow and his crew out of the package
@DSC07293.jpg:The Lemax treasure pirate scene comes from Michael's craft store.
@DSC07294.jpg:The four man crew that came with the ship from AquaCraft.
!!Is This For a Beginner?
YES! the King's Ransom comes RTR and the final assembly work was easy. The ship can be operated as-is or can be modified to make it your custom ship be it for party or haunted pirate ship. Have fun with it... in calm conditions. Do get the grease and lube the propeller shaft inside and out and the top of the rudder post.
!!Video/Photo Gallery
@DSC07448.jpg:Here the cobwebs have been added to the ship.
@DSC07449.jpg:The camera doesn't show it very well but the cobwebs do show to the eye with just the Glowires illuminated.
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@DSC07463.jpg:Ship entering the twilight zone.
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+FinalPirate.wmv:Mike's nighttime Haunted Pirate Ship.
!Conclusion
I have really enjoyed both making and operating my special versions of the King's Ransom. I spent more on the lighting then I planned but it looks good. Friends have enjoyed seeing it on display in my house but my real enjoyment is taking it out on a local lake, pond or on the Delta (per the second video above) on calm evenings. On a small lake surrounded by homes it can really attract attention that slowly builds as people look outside at night and see this lighted object sailing on the lake.
My thanks to Captain Dick Andersen for sailing while I took video and stills and to Drew Meyers the "Warden of the Marshes" for letting Dick and I sail on the CA Delta from his dock. My thanks to Jediwalker and Paul Mirich for sharing their ships. Finally, my thanks to my editors past and present. AnnMarie for encouraging me to spend my money and pursue my wacky ideas and Angela for editing this piece and helping to pull it together.
PS: For those of you near Columbus, Ohio, I understand that they have their own full size Santa Maria that has been made up as a haunted pirate ship for Halloween in past years. Check it out if you have a chance.