Missing Brick Posted May 23, 2012 Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) While waiting for the UK release of the LOTR sets I thought I'd make some siege weapons for my future orc army. Stats: - Can fire a brick 3.5m when the ballast is loaded with 3 x AA batteries. - Minifig-scale controls at the rear allow safe ratchet winching, loading and firing. - Ballast can swing freely after firing without bashing into the structure. Hat tip to the awesome trebuchets of ZCerberus & Mvelic for the inspiration. The siege tower is an 8-wide version of Lego Set 6061 - with a Mordor make-over. Edited May 23, 2012 by Missing Brick Quote
Legoman of War Posted May 23, 2012 Posted May 23, 2012 Those are great. The fact that they function is even better. LMW Quote
lightningtiger Posted May 23, 2012 Posted May 23, 2012 Excellent siege equipment 'Missing Brick', but no flaming objects or beheaded knight heads being launched from the trebuchet ? Quote
soccerkid6 Posted May 23, 2012 Posted May 23, 2012 Excellent work, especially the trebuchet It looks very sturdy, and I like that you made if functional Quote
ZCerberus Posted May 23, 2012 Posted May 23, 2012 Ohh. Nice. I like the seige tower. Black is usually so hard to photograph, but I can see the detail pretty clearly here. I used US coins (dimes specifically) in the counterweight on mine. I don't know how the coins compare to the batteries but maybe that could send the bricks even further! Quote
Missing Brick Posted May 23, 2012 Author Posted May 23, 2012 Thx for the positive comments all. Ohh. Nice. I like the seige tower. Black is usually so hard to photograph, but I can see the detail pretty clearly here. I used US coins (dimes specifically) in the counterweight on mine. I don't know how the coins compare to the batteries but maybe that could send the bricks even further! Yes, coins are probably better.. I was surprised at how small the ballast box was on your trebuchet. I ended up going thru 3 versions, each with a bigger ballast - just to get a decent range. It would also help if I disconnected the winch during firing since that adds a lot of friction but I wanted to avoid having to mess with the string after every launch. One idea I had was to use a larger diameter reel to reduce friction, then have separate winch gearing which could be disengaged during firing. But I decided against it since the gear box was getting too big and I wanted something simple that looked good. Quote
ZCerberus Posted May 23, 2012 Posted May 23, 2012 Yes, coins are probably better.. I was surprised at how small the ballast box was on your trebuchet. I ended up going thru 3 versions, each with a bigger ballast - just to get a decent range. It would also help if I disconnected the winch during firing since that adds a lot of friction but I wanted to avoid having to mess with the string after every launch. One idea I had was to use a larger diameter reel to reduce friction, then have separate winch gearing which could be disengaged during firing. But I decided against it since the gear box was getting too big and I wanted something simple that looked good. As you mentioned, I disconnect the string from the reel on that trebuchet you linked to. With the "hamster wheels" on the sides to prime the firing arm, it would take a massive weight to uncoil it once it is tightened up. it does have a stop to hold the reel when it is coiled, but it would spin out very slowly without disconnecting the string from the wench. I did make a second trebuchet on top of the Great Gatehouse of Albion which also has a small counterweight that does not have the large wind-up wheels. That one, like yours, only requires a flick of a switch to fire. You can see that trebuchet if you click the picture of the gatehouse in my signature. Quote
The_Cook Posted May 24, 2012 Posted May 24, 2012 (edited) If you want to stay entirely within the rules of only using Lego supplied parts then check out part 73090b Boat Weight 2 x 6 x 2 - bottom sealed, dimple on ends. I've used the black version as a counterweight to a (not too successful) trebuchet that I've been playing with as part of my retro-80's series. Your work and the works of the zcerberus et-al that you've referenced gives me the urge to have another go with it. Edited May 24, 2012 by The_Cook Quote
JackJonespaw Posted May 24, 2012 Posted May 24, 2012 This looks great! Would you mind making a video of the trebuchets in action? Quote
Tria Posted May 24, 2012 Posted May 24, 2012 Beautiful! Always good to see so nice siege-equipment! Quote
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