Black Pearl Ship 3D Model Step-by-Step 3D Printing, Assembling and Painting

Easily recognized by her black hull and sails, the Black Pearl pirate ship is an iconic fictional ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Every fan of her with a 3D printer can turn this pirate ship 3D model into a fantastic room centerpiece. Gambody shares step-by-step instructions on assembling and painting the 3D printed pirate ship you can recreate, too. Enjoy the photos of all the processes and the final Black Pearl ship images.

The magnificent Black Pearl ship 3D model for 3D printing is available on gambody.com for download. The legend that has conquered more than one sea is ready for new adventures in your hands. You can be her next captain, just like Jack Sparrow and others who tried to tame the famous pirate ship model from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. No more dreaming! Simply own this beauty right now!

Black Pearl Ship

Working on the Black Pearl ship is impressive, from the moment you 3D print every part of this pirate ship 3D model to the assembly and painting, which breathes new life into the project.

Usually, hobbyists show their final results, and the numerous preparation steps stay hidden from the public eye. Still, every moment of enjoyment and the fantastic experience deserves its own review. So let’s see how a 3D model pirate ship transforms from the beautiful pirate ship STL files into a 3D printed masterpiece.

Preparing Your Workplace

Preparing your workspace before turning the Black Pearl pirate ship 3D model into a physical 3D print is essential. Find a spacious area in your house. You should have enough space to place and arrange all Black Pearl ship 3D printed parts and your tool kit. This place should have daylight and artificial light to provide excellent illumination as you’ll deal with big and small pieces and have to work with detail.

You can use any tools you have or like while 3D printing the Black Pearl pirate ship 3D model. Gambody recommends the following standard tools:

• Awl (2-3 sizes with different blade width);
• Hook awl (perfect for removing 3D printing supports);
• Disposable scalpel (for precise work);
• Utility knife (for rough work);
• Bevel knife;
• Digital caliper measuring tool;
• Reinforced cut-resistant gloves (to work with a knife safely);
• Self-healing cutting mat;
• Set of tweezers;
• Pliers;
• Lighter;
• Hand drill with twist drill bits set (1.2mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, and 3mm);
• Twine string (for Black Pearl ship ropes);
• Sanding block set (200/300/600 grit);
• Dry sandpaper set (600/800 grit);
• A box with small compartments (to sort parts).

When you are happy with your workplace, you can work on bringing the legendary pirate ship 3D model to life.

Pirate Ship STL

The beautiful high-poly Black Pearl pirate ship 3D model (you can download this pirate ship STL files now) consists of 239 files. It is designed for 3D printing on an FDM/FFF 3D printer with filaments of your choice.

Along with Black Pearl STL files, Gambody offers settings for Cura, Simplify3D, Slic3r, and PrusaSlicer. Thus, you can be sure to recreate an incredibly detailed and beautiful Black Pearl model ship, which is supposed to be 653mm tall, 707mm deep, and 278mm wide unless you upscale the 3D printing files and make it bigger.

Read also: Free 3D Printing Software to Create 3D Prints.

3D Printing The Black Pearl Ship

The Black Pearl ship 3D model consists of various parts, which are different in size and require different printing methods. The most significant pieces are the deck and hull of the pirate ship. The most minor parts are her guns.

3D print pirate ship parts. If you have an opportunity to use two types of 3D printers simultaneously, it is perfect. It is an excellent idea to 3D print more extensive Black Pearl pirate ship details, such as hull, masts, and sails, on an FDM 3D printer and build more minor elements, such as ship statues and cannons, on an SLA/SLD 3D printer. But don’t worry if you have one FDM machine because all parts, except Zeus statues on the stern, are adapted for 3D printing with filaments.

To achieve better 3D printing quality, you can reduce the printing speed and use a 0.2mm nozzle on an FDM printer. Regarding the SLA printer, you might face a problem with bending masts as resin dries. Try it if you are confident in your resin. Or use natural wood for the Black Pearl ship masts based on Gambody’s 3D model template.

Make sure to sort all your tiny 3D printed pirate ship parts so you don’t lose them during the model assembly. We recommend you create two to three extra parts for steps and other elements to save time in case one gets lost or broken.

Refining Pirate Ship 3D Print

You should prepare each part for further assembly once you print all Black Pearl pirate ship elements. Firstly, remove the supports (no matter if you used an FDM or SLA 3D printer or both). Be extra cautious not to break the 3D printed pirate ship parts or injure yourself as you work with a knife, awl, tweezers, and pliers. Carefully remove all the chamfers for every FDM-type element.

When adapting each model for 3D printing, Gambody considers all possible gaps for better assembly, so you should have no issues with this in the case of proper 3D printer configurations. However, if you try to assemble some smaller parts, such as Black Pearl ship anchors, and they don’t fit, you might need to use sandpaper or sanding blocks to adjust some gaps for better fitting.

3D Printed Pirate Ship Assembly

The beautiful 3D printed Black Pearl pirate ship has three main stages of assembly: the hull, the sails, and all the extra parts. Let’s focus on each step and build your perfect 3D printed pirate ship.

1. Hull Assembly

Being with hull assembly. Don’t install all the small Black Pearl ship elements at this stage. Leave the cannons, railings, and frames for later because they will only interfere in your way. At the same time, it’s an excellent idea to test placing them where they belong to ensure everything fits perfectly well, and if not, use your dry sandpaper or scalpel to improve the joint quality.

Don’t get upset if, at some moments, everything doesn’t go according to plan. It’s a 3D printed pirate ship, and nothing ever goes smoothly for pirates. Focus on assembling the Black Pearl hull and set the minor adjustments away.

Once you assemble and glue the 3D printed parts of the Black Pearl pirate ship hull, it is time to mask all the joints. You can use a drop of resin to cure it with an ultraviolet flashlight or waterproof gypsum-based household putty from a nearby hardware store. It is better to avoid using car putty because of its strong smell and high hardness, which is challenging to work with. Carefully apply putty where needed without touching any tiny 3D printed pirate ship elements (if it happens, there is time to remove all the excess material).

Once putty hardens, you can sand the Black Pearl ship from Pirates of the Caribbean with sanding blocks or dry sandpaper to achieve the smoothness you like. Make your 3D printed pirate ship more realistic by applying some putty to different parts of her hull and sanding those parts, too. To keep actual vessels afloat, pirates covered the wood with resin, so seeing putty on parts of the wooden texture of your model should benefit the ship’s final looks.

Read also: 15 Most Impressive 3D Printed Ships

2. Creating Sails

The highly-detailed Black Pearl pirate ship 3D model boasts excellent sails requiring an innovative hot plastic cloth technique. Follow the instructions to succeed.

Step 1. You need to preheat your 3D printer bed to 250 °C (482 °F), wear gloves, follow safety precautions while placing the pirate ship model sails on the hot printer bed, and wait a few minutes.

Step 2. Quickly remove the sails and adjust their shape. You can squish them and then straighten them up before shaping your way. You have approximately 10 seconds before the plastic hardens.

Step 3. If you are unhappy with your Black Pearl ship sails, repeat Steps 1 and 2 until you enjoy the result.

3. Adding More Details

Once you finish assembling the Black Pearl ship hull, you can install all the puny elements, including the railings, cannons, and beautiful 3D printed pirate ship statues.

Don’t rush gluing everything; you can now glue all the railings and cannons. As for the rest of the Black Pearl 3D model parts, double-check all the joints and connections before you paint the ship.

Ensure that every tiny detail, even lightly glued to the hull, can be removed for painting. You can even 3D print a stand for your hull to simplify the painting process.

You can also use thread to wrap the masts and yards for plausibility but don’t overdo this step because you still need to attach the sails and rigging.

Painting Black Pearl Pirate Ship 3D Print

Sometimes, you can convert a pirate ship 3D model into a stunning masterpiece without painting it. But in most situations, adding color after printing pirate ship STL on your FDM or SLA 3D printer is essential.

Working with the Black Pearl ship is terrific, as this 3D print offers many creative options. Start applying black matte acrylic aerosol-type primer layers because nothing else can work for this pirate ship model. The vessel has many dark tones, and adding black prime helps to hide many tiny errors in the darkness of the pirate theme. Take your time priming and let it dry well. You should receive dense and rich base colors.

Repeat the same steps with your masts, sails, and small 3D printed parts (use a box to prevent aerosol air flow from blowing them away). If you spray paint your 3D printed Black Pearl ship inside, use a respirator and an excellent venting system.

Read also: Best 3D Printer Ventilation System for Resin and Filaments.

Hull Painting

Even though Black Pearl pirate ship 3D print might appear just black, it is untrue. Her black color has many hues and tones, including gray, blue, cyan, turquoise, ochre, and more.

Make sure to paint the Black Pearl ship with a dry brush only. Don’t add water or other moisture. Instead, use a wet palette. Remove excess moisture from your brushes with a paper towel or cloth if you don’t have a wet palette. Regarding the acrylic paint brand, you can use anything available in your local stores.

Start painting your 3D printed pirate ship from the hull’s bottom, checking the color saturation and applying light brush strikes that are confident and sweeping. It’s great when the paint clings to the vessel boards for a more realistic effect.

Add an ochre shade to create an unpainted board effect, mix it with green to show rotten parts and seaweeds, apply blue and cyan to reflect the ocean, etc. But be careful when adding blue hues because this color uses a lot of white that can roughly affect your final Black Pearl look.

Painting Decorative Elements

If you have slightly glued some 3D printed parts, such as cannons, doors, barrels, statues, etc., to the Black Pearl ship deck, carefully remove them for painting. The primary color is black, but you can add some gold, bronze, and silver acrylic shades for various effects using the dry brush technique. It’s fun to mix some ochre and brown hints for steps, decks, and railings to make them look worn out with time. When painting the pirate ship model’s iron elements (cable mounts, railings, cannons, etc.), play with bronze and silver hues, enhancing them with bits of turquoise for the effect of metal oxidation with salt.

Use the same casual and confident dry brush painting technique for the rear stern and statues, creating a black base and adding golden and turquoise tints.

Focus on the painting as is, as you can highlight the tiny details later. Paint throughout the Black Pearl ship 3D print using the same color palette, avoid bright spots, and try to fade one color into another.

Read also: Sanding and Painting 3D Prints (Easy Steps)

Painting Sails

You can create beautiful sails for your 3D printed Black Pearl 3D model. Continue painting them using the same technique as the rest of the pirate ship model. Apply the primary black color with a large dry brush, then confidently add hues and hints, emphasizing the folds and bends.

Painting the Pirate Ship Model Stand

You can paint your 3D printed Black Pearl pirate ship stand in any style. Make it look like metal or expensive wood. Transform it into an old pirate board or harmonize it with the rest of the vessel.

Using the same dry brush painting technique and similar colors is the best decision to avoid your stand distracting attention from the beautiful Black Pearl 3D print.

Finishing Touches

Free your imagination! Your 3D printed Black Pearl pirate ship can look reddish in the sunset, bluish in the moonlight, and greenish, reflecting the Caribbean Sea. But you cannot leave it plain black.

Black color is the base. Still, the ship comes to life in the light, not in the darkness or shadows. So, breathe life into your black pirate ship model by experimenting with colors.

Ropes & Knots

It’s finally time for rigging and hanging the Black Pearl sails. You can follow Gambody’s instructions and create a simplified rigging version for the 3D printed pirate ship. Or you can make the original ropes and knots, as in the Pirates of the Caribbean ship from the movies.

You can work on the shrouds yourself or use the 3D printed plastic version. Whatever you do, be careful not to bend your masts while working with the ropes and knots. After rigging, you can tie your sails and yards.

Conclusion

Even when the pirate ship 3D model for 3D printing is perfect, don’t leave your 3D printed decks in ideal order. You can create some “mess” using extra guns, barrels, and bags. Scatter them around the Black Pearl ship deck, pile them in the corner, carelessly throw the oars into the boat, or think of how else you can represent the pirate atmosphere. You can add glass to your captain’s cabin using transparent plastic found in any office supply store. Download and 3D print a ship-scale version of Jack Sparrow 3D model to lead his black Pearl ship into new adventures.

If you want, introduce LEDs into the captain’s cabin by removing the rear structure or upper windshield. You can use the LED strip with warm light or any methods described in How to Put Up LED Lights in a 3D Printed Model post and hide the battery on or under the deck.

Printing, assembling, and painting the Black Pearl pirate ship 3D model might sound complicated. But this project is breathtaking! Gambody team ensured it would bring you pleasure and many incredible moments. If you get tired, relax by watching the Pirates of the Caribbean or read Gambody 3D Printing Community inspirational posts on Facebook. You’ll love being the new Black Pearl pirate ship captain, so fear aside, experiment, take your time painting with the dry brushes, and enjoy it. Hide the rum!