Pirate Ship Playhouse

The following tutorial will reinforce the tools and tips discussed in class as well as introduce you to some new ones. Creating the pirate ship will also prepare you for your next assignment in which you will be designing a Playground.

In this lesson, students will become comfortable with 3D modeling in SketchUp for Schools. As students work to build their pirate ship playhouse, they will gain exposure to 3D modeling lingo, learn how to build basic geometry, and add colors from SketchUp’s material library. They have the freedom to add in their own personal touches by importng models from the extensive SketchUp 3D Warehouse: an online repository of millions of models created by users.

The Scale Model

Every time you open a new model template in SketchUp, you will see Mike or Liseanne or some other person standing waiting for instruction. Their job is to give us a sense of the size of the objects that we'll draw in our model.

For example: Mike here is 5'10", so if we draw a 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot box next to him, it will be about half his height.

Drawing a Box

Let’s test it; let’s draw a 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot box next to Mike.

a. Select the rectangle tool from the tool menu on the left

b. Click once on the ground near Mike’s feet to set one corner of your box. You should be able to move your mouse around and vary the size of the square at this point.

c. Type 3’,3’ and hit enter to complete the square. Note that the dimensions you type will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

d. Select the push pull tool to make the box 3D.

e. Hover over the square to select it as the surface to extrude. Click once and move your mouse up. You should be able to move your mouse up and down to vary the height of the box at this point.

f. Type 3’ and hit enter to complete the box.

Pirate Ship Breakdown

Ship Shape
The Hull
The Deck
The Ship's Cabin
The Portholes
Add the Plank
Materials and Colours
Adding Models from the 3D Warehouse

1. Ship Shape

a. Select the rectangle tool. Bring your rectangle tool to the point where the red, green, and blue lines meet. Each line is called an axis, and the point at which they meet is called the origin.

b. Click once on the origin, then release and drag your mouse to the right to start your rectangle

c. Type 8’, 6’ then hit enter to complete the rectangle . Note that the dimensions you type will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen

d. Select the Line tool and find the midpoint on the short side of the rectangle. The midpoint is represented by a cyan blue dot and will say "Midpoint" when you hover over it.

f. With the line tool still selected, click once on the end of the line you just created. Click a second time on one of the near corners of the rectangle to create a triangle surface. Repeat on the other side.

g. Select the eraser tool and click on the lines inside the shape to erase them.

h. Select the push/pull tool and hold your mouse over the surface so that it is highlighted.

i. Click once inside the shape and move your mouse up on the screen. Type 1'6" then hit enter.

j. Click on the select icon (looks like a mouse pointer) and select all surfaces by either triple-clicking on the sandbox model, or dragging a window from the top left of the model to the bottom right.

You completed this step! Great job! Keep going!

2. The Hull

a. Select the orbit tool and left click-hold-drag your mouse to view the underside of the shape.

b. Select the offset tool . The offset tool creates copies of lines at a uniform distance from the original. Click once on any edge of the bottom surface and move your mouse towards the center of the shape. Type 1’ then hit enter to complete the offset.

c. Select the move tool and hold your mouse over the inset surface so that it is highlighted.

d. Hit Control, then click once to make a copy of the surface. Move your mouse down the screen so that the surface moves along the blue axis. Hold down the shift key to lock to the blue axis.

e. Click Alt once to activate “auto-fold” mode.

f. Bring the hull down 3’ from the base of your shape.

3. The Deck

a. Select the orbit tool to view the top of your model

b. Select the offset tool . Click once on any edge of the top surface and move your mouse towards the center of the surface. Type 3” then hit enter to complete the offset.

c. Select the line tool and draw from midpoint to midpoint of the rectangular part of the ship.

d. Select the Push/Pull tool and click once in the middle of the pentagon shape. Move your mouse down and type 1', then hit enter.

Keep going! Your ship is almost built!

The Ship's Cabin

a. Select the push/pull tool, and click on the rectangular shape. Tap ctrl to activate "toggle create new starting face" mode.

b. Move your mouse up on the screen, type 3', then hit enter.

c. Select the orbit tool to view the front of your model

d. Select the offset tool . Click once on any edge of the front rectangular surface and move your mouse towards the center of the surface. Type 3” then hit enter to complete the offset.

e. Select the push/pull tool and click on the new rectangle you made. Move your mouse onto an edge or corner on the back of the rectangular cabin. When you see the words “on edge” or “endpoint” appear, click again. This will hollow out the cabin.

f. Select the orbit tool to view the top of your model

g. Select the line tool and draw from midpoint to midpoint on the top-most surface

h. Select the move tool and click once on the line you just drew. Move your mouse up on the screen so that it is on the blue axis. Type 3’ then hit enter to raise the edge up to create the roof.

i. Select the orbit tool to view the side of your model.

The Portholes

a. Select the circle tool and click on the front surface of your ship. Type 6" then hit enter, to create a circle with a 6" radius.

b. Click the select tool , then double click inside the circle to highlight it. Right click and select Make Component.

c. Name the component porthole. Make sure “cut opening” is selected.

d. Select the move tool and tap ctrl to activate the copy tool (the + symbol indicates you are in copy mode). Click once in the center of the circle, then click to the left of the circle to place the copy.

e. Tap ctrl again to reactivate the copy tool and make another porthole on the long surface of the ship.

f. Once more, tap ctrl and move your mouse towards the back of the ship along the red axis.

g. Hold down shift to lock movement to the red axis, then click near the back of the ship to place the porthole copy. Without clicking anything else, type “/2” to make two copies equally spaced apart.

h. Click the select tool, then double click on the any porthole to edit the component.

i. Select the offset tool . Click once on the edge of the circle and move your mouse towards its center. Type 1” then hit enter to complete the offset. Note: because the porthole is a component, any edits you make in one porthole will apply to all of them.

j. Select the push/pull tool and click on the outer ring you just made. Move your mouse away from the ship, type 2”, then click enter to complete the command.

k. Select the push/pull again to pull the inner circle out 1”.

l. Select the paint bucket tool. In the Materials Panel on the right, select Glass and Mirrors and then select select a glass option from the list. Click the inner circle to apply the glass “paint” to the component.

m. Pick another Color and paint the rim of the porthole by clicking on each surface.

n. Zoom out and click Esc, or, click anywhere outside of the component to leave edit component mode.

6. Add the Plank

a. Select the line tool and click on the corner of the deck pictured below.

b. Move your mouse along the green axis to the opposite edge of the ship’s wall and click when you see “On Edge.”

c. With the line tool still selected, click the midpoint of the inner edge of your ship and draw a line across to the opposite edge. Click again when the words “On Edge” appear on the screen.

d. Select the push/pull tool and click once in between the two lines you just drew. Move your mouse so that you are hovering over the floor of the ship’s deck and click again when you see “On Face.” Now the surface is pushed down to the level of the ship’s deck.

e. With the push/pull tool still selected, click again on the same face and move your mouse down on the screen. Type 3” and then hit enter.

f. Still using the push/pull tool, click on the surface we point to in the image below. Move your mouse away from the boat, type 3” then hit enter.

g. Click on the surface again and this time type 2’, then hit enter.

That's it! You're done with your plank!

7. Materials and Colours

a. Select the paint bucket and choose Wood in the materials panel. Select a wood paneling then click on each face of the ship. Orbit to make sure you are applying the materials to all faces.

b. With the paint bucket tool still selected, pick another colour to paint the floors and cabin of your ship.

8. Adding models from the 3D warehouse

a. Click on components in the SketchUp Panels on the right. Where it says “Search 3D Warehouse”, type in “SketchUp for Schools slide.”

b. Click once on the yellow SketchUp for Schools slide (by SketchUp), then click again anywhere in the model to insert the slide.

c. Select the rotate tool. Hold your mouse on the “ground” next to the slide and click once when the rotate tool is blue (this means it is locked to the blue axis).

d. Click once more outside of the rotate tool and move your mouse in the clockwise direction. Type 90, then hit enter. This will rotate your slide 90 degrees.

e. Select the move tool and click once on the top left endpoint of the slide. Place the slide by clicking on the top left endpoint (based on the image below) of the plank.

f. Click on components in the SketchUp Panels on the right. Search for the rest of the SketchUp for Schools Pirate Ship Playhouse components to add fun details to your model!

Congratulations! You have completed this tutorial!

Submit the saved SketchUp file to your teacher for marks via the website.