Here’s a nice photo tutorial on making pirate ships and the like.
ships
Paper Models Of Sea Creatures and Research Vessels
The Japan Agency of Marine Earth Science and Technology offer a page of free, downloadable paper models of sea creatures and research vessels. Properly scaled, they might be useful for a Thunderball type skirmish game, if anyone ever makes a few 28mm 1960s era scuba diver.
Archipelago of Gold
Archipelago of Gold is a set of free wargames rules for use with the constructable, collectable Pirates of the Spanish Main ships from WizKids. From the BGG description:
These rules use the Pirates of the Spanish Main and a hex map to allow you to explore wild islands for gold, build large fleets, settlements, cities, forts, and train your crews to become superior gun crews. Get more gold back to your settlement, and you can build more than your opponents.