Ancient catapult...

[Harry Faversham]

I'm building on of theses soon and have a question...



There's a pole/lever thingy at the back that I'm guessing the loader cranks to pull the arm back, when fully loaded is this pole/lever removed?
My thinking is it is, if not wouldn't it follow the missile away, or even worse get smashed to bits and shred the crew?

[Pattus Magnus]

I don’t think the pole/ lever acts as a trigger - there should be a ratchet mechanism that holds the catapult arm in place once it is under tension and the pole is removed prior to launching the projectile. The model shown a a fantasy version and may or may not include a realistic ratchet and trigger.

[Harry Faversham]

Thanks for that, I'm going to build one fully cocked with the pole/lever thingy removed, and one with a crewman cranking the pole/lever thingy to the firing position.

[WuZhuiQiu]

The windlass would have had to be turned a few times, so the windlass spike would likely have been removed and replaced for each half turn. The trigger would have unhooked the arm from the winding rope, so the positioning of the windlass spike would not have mattered. Obviously, it would not have made sense to have the arm unwind the windlass, as that would have been both dangerous and a major loss of power...

[Harry Faversham]

So it's OK to leave the windlass spike thingy in it's hole when you pressed the big red button to let fly?

   

[Pattus Magnus]

I think that’s right. It might vary between designs, but the trigger should fully disengage the windlass from the catapult arm when the piece fires. The windlass wouldn’t spin. The smaller catapults Romans made (Scorpion bolt-throwers, etc.) seem to have had the handles fixed on to the crank. Those handles were clear of the ground, but it suggests to me that the bar/spike on the larger catapult could be left in the hole. If I was the crew boss for the piece, I would probably still have a crewman remove it and stand clear when firing, so that it isn’t in the way when starting to prepare for the next shot (and it wouldn’t be flung out or broken it there is a malfunction...)

[Harry Faversham]

Cheers for that. Off subject a tad, but I'm wondering if this is the right section to put piccys of the Skelly Army when it's finished. They're loosely Greek Hoplite themed shades and will be advancing from the underworld on Sparta.
Myths, Gods and Spartans... wot's not to like!!!???

[Pattus Magnus]

Lots of others have posted mythology-themed projects in this section, so I expect there won’t be a problem.