How to make your own (swinging) pirate's wharf gibbet!

The gibbet was a nasty bit of kit used in the old days in England as a means of visual deterrent to would-be criminals. And you can see why it worked: being strung up for all to see in one of these cages is a pretty grim way to go.

Capital punishment and craft do not have a long history, but the morbid side of me was highly amused to see that you can now make your own miniature gibbet. The grizzly items feature in The Mousehunter; a swashbuckling new adventure story from British author Alex Milway, and he's included instructions on his blog for making one. It's up to you what you use it for, but please don't test it on your pet hamster! Full instructions are beneath the cut...

What you’ll need:
pencil, scissors, gluestick.

Here's your flat-packed Gibbet; this is what you'll need to cut out before following the instructions below.

A few hints:
This is very easy to make, although sticking the white flaps to other sections can be a bit fiddly at times. I suggest using a pencil (or something equally narrow) to poke inside the structure to hold sides together while it’s sticking if you have difficulty. (Remember always tuck the white flaps inside!) Also, make sure that before you do any sticking of a piece you’ve folded all the necessary parts well – you can never have too sharp a fold! For the cage, if you colour the backs of the iron strip pieces with a pencil, then when it’s finished it’ll look even better. And finally, if all else fails (or the glue doesn’t stick!), don’t be afraid to use sticky tape to join it all together. As Algernon Mountjack would say, ‘A shiny, tatty gibbet is better than scraps of paper on the floor!’

Step one: Print out the Gibbet sheet. Cut out Part 1 – this is the upright of the structure. Make folds at all of the black lines. The brown square with a red dot is the bottom of the upright. Fold the piece together and glue the flaps to make it solid. (Make note here that the top of the upright is open, and the flaps aren’t required until you stick this part to Part 2 later!)

Step two: Cut out Part 2 – this is the horizontal beam of the structure. Make folds at all of the black lines, apart from those which form boxes with red or green dots. (These are markers for where you join pieces together later.) Glue the flaps to the other sides and join together to make a whole.

Step 3. Take the top unused flaps of Part 1 (the upright) and glue them to the black cross with the red dot on the underside of Part 2. This should be glued so that the longer thinning section is at the front, rising upwards (note the angle at the top of part 1), and the fatter, shorter section behind.

Step 4. Cut out Parts 3 and 4. These parts are identical, and form the main cage structure. In the middle of each strip are two dotted lines. Place the strips so that the printed sides are facing down and make gentle folds upwards at the dotted lines – this forms the base. On part 4, within the two dotted lines is a red dot. Put some glue here, and stick this to the middle of the base of part 3, slap bang in the centre of the dotted line so the pieces form an ‘X’ shape together. (Make sure the coloured sections of the pieces are facing out!) Now glue the white flap of each piece to its opposing end to form a loop, and once the glue has dried, stick the two pieces together at the top.

Step 5. Cut out Part 5 and glue the white flap to the other end to form a loop. Slide this over the joined parts 1 and 2, so that it rests over the highest set of red dots within boxes. Glue Part 5 to the cage at each of these points.

Step 6: Repeat step five with parts 6 and 7, gluing Part 6 to the middle set of red dots, and Part 7 to the set closest to the bottom.

Step 7: Cut out Part 8. This is the band of metal that joins the cage to the end of the horizontal beam (Part 2). On Part 8, the area between the dotted lines shows where it should be glued to the green dot on Part 2. There should be even lengths hanging down either side of the beam. Place some glue on the white flap on part eight, push this through the top of the completed cage, and then attach it to its opposite end to form a full loop. The loop should allow the cage to move, but still be secure.

Step 8: Cut out Part 9, and glue to a piece of thick card to form a sturdy mount for the Gibbet. Then glue the base of the upright to the red dot on the base so that the cage is hanging over the Mousehunter logo.

Step 9: You’ve finished, so hold the base to a hard surface, blow on it and watch it swing. (Note: if you make squealing noises as well, then it will be more authentic!)

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