Pirate Ship Play Set – Ahoy!

A rum looking cove … or is that where they are headed? Attractive pirate packaging, cardboard waves, pirate imagery and old printing font. Proper Playset stuff!

I bought a boat.

Or two. Our fifth blogaversary could not pass without something new and joyously plastic!

Living in the West Country or the Southwest U.K., you are never that far from the sea. And what does that mean? Seaside gift shops! Plastic Pirates!

A close up of the contents, still with the fearsome pirate stickers. I removed these carefully and put them away in the bits box.

Close up (below) of its box mounting which is attractive and atmospheric in itself, with something of the toy theatre or theatrical backdrop about it. A touch of Tolkien or fantasy even?

The pirate boat or ship (what is the difference?) looks even better without most of its stickers.

It also comes with two giant pirate figures, around 60mm+, of which more anon.

The inclusion of figures (and out of scale ones) is obviously what makes a pirate ship into a play set.

If I were designing this pirate ship playset, I would turn two oversized figures into 5 or 6 smaller figures of pirate crew, seamen or prisoners including maybe the odd female pirate or pirate treasure chest. Obviously the smaller the figures, the more risk that they will be lost or swallowed. Solution: Best not let children near them and reserve these play sets for adults? 🙂

I quickly tried the ship out for size with a smaller sized crew.

A smaller crew of 15mm Chinese and other Pirate figures (below) …

Slightly larger scale crew (below) – old lead sea captain aloft and pound store plastic c. 32mm conversion figures on the deck.

And slightly in between (below) – 20mm Jacklex Mexicans to hand for scale … the Mexican Navy!

The ship’s figurehead is a delightful oddity, a winged male or female figure,

A curious figurehead of almost modernist or modern art strangeness.

The large scale pirate figures are roughly factory painted. Oddly or unfairly, the balding figure is unarmed, not even a cutlass for sword fights?

Britain’s old and new 54mm figures for size comparison with these larger pirates.

This ship and crew cost the princely sum of £9.99. So I bought two …

Not quite pound store prices. However, making one of these ships would take quite a long time, so this price seems a fair trade.

Pirate ships – an interesting conversion and painting project to convert this into a useful sailing boat or pirate ship for the tabletop for the autumn or winter.

Back in April 2020 I scrap-modelled a small harbour setting for 15-20mm figures https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/making-a-martello-tower-from-scrap-fort-crumble/

For Some joblot pirates and redcoats

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/what-ive-done-in-april-for-anns-immaterium-paint-all-the-stuff-you-own-challenge/

logposted by Mark Man of TIN! Ahoy! 18 September 2021

There has been much focus on the dangers of Single Use Plastic (SUP) at the seaside, ending up on the beach or in the ocean affecting marine wildlife. Look after your pirate ship to make it RUP – Repeated Use Plastic!