Becky the Gibbeted Female Pirate

Becky - seen through the arch of the Santa Maria in Columbus, OH
Becky up close in all her
beautyand bad wig. Since Bucky the gibbeted pirate turned out at be such a hit at Pirates in Paradise in 2008, and because I had also originally planned to make two gibbeted pirates instead of just the one, I decided to go ahead and create a mate for Bucky for Pirates in Paradise 2009. She too is to be donated to Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West. She pretty well followed the recipe I established for Bucky.

The Gibbet

I purchased a gibbet that was made along the same lines as the one used for Bucky. I did find a new source for the gibbet that was actually a bit cheaper - Brands on Sale.

As mentioned on Bucky's page, gibbets were often hung at low tide by the docks to warn sailors not to turn to piracy. I figured that this must also mean they would get wet regularly and would look all nasty and rusty. So I rusted this gibbet up. Learning from my experience with the other gibbet, I decided to incorporate more texture in the paint. Bucky's gibbet looks rusty, but it's too smooth for the amount of rust I added. Unfortunately, I realized when I started painting Becky's gibbet that I didn't have enough sand. So I improvised and used sawdust. I won't say the effect was perfect, but it came out well enough. Although these shots are not ideal because of the light, they give the idea.

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The Body

Becky is made from a female skeleton. The previous gibbeted skeleton, Bucky, is made from a male skeleton which is called a 'Bucky.' So I'm guessing he has an extra rib and a different pelvis structure. (And that, boys and girls, is the end of my interest in the differences.)

Becky had glass eyes mounted into her head from the Undead Pirate Haunted House room. I decided to leave them in there because they look spookier. At left you see Becky pre-horror. She has duct tape holding the top of her skull on. (This skeleton is a veteran of several haunted houses. She's in remarkably good shape, considering.)

At right is Becky after the liquid latex and toilet paper have been applied. Her eyes & teeth are taped. Creepy.

The many paint stages of the Becky paint process. From left - 1. Painting begins with black. 2. Then Dark brown, 3. Dark Red 4. Dark Gray, 5. Dark Brown again, 6. A few touches of black (not too much!). Note that his eyes and teeth have been taped to protect them from the spray paint - it has been removed in the last picture above. Like Bucky, I only did the parts of the skeleton I thought would be seen. Unlike Bucky, I didn't do quite as much. I noticed that I commented on Bucky's page that I should have gone higher, so I clearly didn't learn this lesson at all.

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Michael Bagley once again generously donated his time and his wife's time in outfitting Becky as I can't sew to save my life. The clothing was ready when I arrived for the Santa Maria gig in Columbus, OH in May of 2009. At left: The Jessicas (Bagley and Paff) dress Becky, who just sort of lays there and takes it. At right: the final dressed product. Let me once again congratulate Michael and Jessica on doing such a fine job. Let me razz myself for having only a really bad Jaclyn Smith wig available to contribute to this project. (Awful.)

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Below are various shots of Becky hanging around portside at the Santa Maria during the event. At right: The pirates approach the gangplank while Becky ignores them. Center: Becky hanging over water ignoring the camera. Below right: Becky ignores some people waiting to tour the ship. (I am sensing a theme here. She's a cold woman - er, figuratively as well as literally.)