They don’t call me Long John because my head is so big.

Now we are on the home stretch folks. Just one more shopping trip weekend for last minute big box store purchases then a week to get everything set up and working. I hope it doesn't snow...

I confess..this weekend was too nice and I didn't get any building done. I did make a couple of purchases though. And I DID wrap up my cemetery fence pillars two of which are shown here. A little fleck-stone paint, some airbrushing, and some moss garland and there ya go. Instant creepy.

The other characters are new this year and are essentially "blog padding" if you will. They are kinda neat so like Pokemons "try to find them all" when you come visit.

I promise the next blog will be better. Things are going to be going out, and up this weekend (thats what she said) So stay tuned...

That’s the finest pirate booty I’ve ever laid eyes on.

18 days to go and I'm feeling saucy...

This week I worked on a chain barrier fence to go around the front of Booty Island. Last year I had kids tromping right up to my helmsman like he was some kind of skeleton Santa Clause. This year with this pile of gold coins and sparklies I thought I should erect a fence to discourage that kind of behavior. Also the island itself is going to be just fabric with a sprinkling of sand on it and it won't be very sturdy at all.

The fellow with the sword poking from his ribcage will finish out the islands look. I will have this done this week. The working pirate cannon is getting less likely to be done in time but I have added more parts to the pile.

To learn more about my booty go to TomsHairyHeinie.com

Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?

26 Days to go! I am over the hump. Today I put all the pieces together for my skeleton pirate captain to see how things worked. Well he swings his sword (gay-ly) Needs work but he does swing! The ambient chantey music and the pop up scare pirate work too. I wish I could have more of the actual guy in the barrel show when he does but space is limited in there. But there is a scream sound when he does and I have a strobe going off as well. Umm..the standup pirates jaw moves in time with an evil laughter track running off of a CD.

The pieces together here are more than the whole and I can't wait to see it going at night. When I get it nailed and tweeked I'll post a movie.

Next up is more of a static display of a desert island with a long dead pirate over his treasure chest of booty. Not really scary but neat I hope. I'll have some ambient seashore sounds to play and a whole lot of booty.

A WHOLE lot of booty, Arrgg.

Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I AM happy to see you.

Sunday the 21st. This was a semi-productive week. It got off to a slow start but picked up speed as it went. The pirate captain skeletons mounting hardware was completed this week. he now has a rigid spine of half inch threaded rod to keep him erect and the receptacles are mounted in the proper spots on the wharf for him to stand in later. Next week he will be stained and painted to look a little more "lived in."

Todays project was the pop up pirate in the barrel. After some cussin' and discussin' with myself I got him to a working condition more or less. He still needs programmed though. There will be ambient sea shanty type music playing on a loop, and then when a tot comes near and I trigger it a loud scream will sound and a flashing light will go off. Should be neat.

Tot might not think so though...

How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off me rudder?

Here is a progress report for the last week or so. I remembered I had tossed all of my cemetery fence columns from last year so the new columns got moved up to top priority. The previous ones were just a thin masonite rectangle with stone "wallpaper" glued to the sides. They weren't holding up well.

These new ones are various sizes of particle board and they are very heavy and stout. The decorations are wood embellishment thingys from Lowe's that weren't working for the Nautilus room but look neat here.

The last pic is the start of the wharf "set" for my new skeleton. I have installed the servo in his skull that will make his jaw move in time to a sound file. I'm not sure what he's going to do-maniacal laughter, sing a song or what. Ideas?

Ahoy Scurvy Dogs

From now till all Hallow's eve this blog be hijacked. Since I am now prisoner here to their whims there will be no further updates to the room until the curse is released the day after Halloween. Meanwhile I'll be documenting the new additions to the yard display as I go. This years new cast of characters include a "talking and singing" pirate captain and his slightly dead pop-up friend, a poor soul whose skeleton now lies atop a gleaming pile of treasure, possibly a full size (working?) cannon prop, and new columns for the cemetery fence.

Not to mention the return of this guy from last year...

A riveting update

Rosie here.

I have been busy running some riveted straps across the ceiling. Its kind of a surprisingly labor intensive part of the project. Each one is primed then needs two coats of paint and then finally a light weathering before it can go up. It looks pretty neat up there but by itself not much of a blog update.

However, tonight I finished up the first rough hull frame of which there will be four running across the room on those straps I put up previously. I used masonite for the cutting guides clamping and sawing both halves together for uniformity. To insure they lined up I screwed them together over the rough cut pink foam with 3 inch bolts before using a variety of hot wire cutters to cut out the frame shape.

I will repeat his process 3 more times for these. There will be "beams" across the center and smaller curved frames on the far side. Hopefully when painted they will all look like rusty metallic steel.

Till next time I won't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but you...