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For the shied , ihave put somes topics on it on the forum at scutum paint or parma . I try to find some photographies. It has been made in rowhide even the decorations which has been difficult because of the drying of the skin. I have used after very thin paintings (8 times) red yellow and white with caseine and I have put after some brown wax.
Sorry for my english It's possible that there is some mistakes...
Titus Flavius Pupinius Rufus
Praefectus Fabrum LEG VIII AUGUSTA
Emmanuel Fourré
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My washers are bigger than the washer of bath but the form is the same they are made in aluminium, i know that it's an archaelogical horror but it's less expansive than bronze. For the sinew, I use modern string of polyethylen and a kevlar sinew for the bow. as soon as possible , i take some photo of the back of the scorpion.
Titus Flavius Pupinius Rufus
Praefectus Fabrum LEG VIII AUGUSTA
Emmanuel Fourré
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Emmanuel,
My compliments on your craftsmanship and kit. It is too bad that there is a large ocean between us. Legio III Cyrenaica could use a "Vitruvian" three-span weapon and a talented builder. Our archer is working on a manuballista and a small scorpio and our Vexillarius has built an onager and a large (@3 meter tall) ballista. The nearest large catapult belongs to Legi XXIV. We were able to test fire that one from a carrus that I built using the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius as a guide. During testing at Roman Days in Marlyand hosted by Legio XX, we experienced difficulties with the monpod base that I had hastily put together to fit the catpult in the cart. The lessons we learned have led to me to many new ideas on how carroballistae might have been built and employed. Today I began building an improved base to test my theories. Your design seems very practical and easy to handle. I am trying to arrange to work with a local mule driver to test the cart using mule power. Please keep us informed of your efforts to work with horses. Once my new base is finished I hope to build an iron-framed catpult to go with it. There is so much that we don't know about the carroballista and so few clues to go on that just by researching and buliding one you can learn a great deal.
Regards,
Randi R.
Legio III CYR
P. Clodius Secundus (Randi Richert), Legio III Cyrenaica
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
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No photos of the new and improved catapult base yet because my camera is broken, but here are a few shots of the artillery park at Legio XXs Roman Days back in June. We had Fred's "Atomic Cannon" ballista and the onager out for an artillery drill last month in Kingston to make sure that all our troops are familliar with them. He's still got a lot of fine tuning to do before it's battle ready, but it's sure fun to watch. I can't wait until our archer can field his scorpio and manuballista. I'm afraid it's going to be a long while before I can put together my iron-framer. I'm building the base so that it will work with Legio XXIVs wood frame catapult. At least that way we can keep testing and learning until a more Trajan-style weapon is available. The build is going well. I'm just using pine for now. If the design proves sucessful I'll worry about using hardwood and proper joinery techniques later. The base of Fred's ballista is a thing of beauty. all the pieces are mortise and tennon. I don' t think he used a single nail or fastener on it. The parts assemble by hand and it's solid as a rock.
P. Clodius Secundus (Randi Richert), Legio III Cyrenaica
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
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Emmanual, my compliments too on your scorpio! Very clean woodwork, and the car is exceptionally well done. Nice joints! Having been forced to learn to make mortise and tennon joints with traditional tools, I can doubly appreciate your efforts.
I too would love to see clear photos from the back illustrating the springs and the trigger mechanism you made, and the winch system. Perhaps some shots of your "ammo" as well, when you can.
Dane Donato
Legio III Cyrenaica
