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Great ...... :!:
....for some parts: pictures do speak at least as loud as words. :wink:
Greez
Simplex
Siggi K.
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My German is way too rusty, but it's nice to see that someone has been paying attention to what I've posted here on RAT. They say that immitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Their iron-framer is by far the best reconstruction of Trajan's Carroballista I've seen yet. The fact that they are willing to abandon the wheeled frame they had meticulously constructed in favor of the separate "Lazy Rho" base and cart shows an admirable agility of mind. Since I started by building the cart instead of the weapon, we should combine forces. There are still a few things I'd change, but overall laudes to them. If the site's designers are RATers please step forward and join the discussion. If you are lurkers please join RAT. We need new blood and talent.
P. Clodius Secundus (Randi Richert), Legio III Cyrenaica
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
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Google's translator is hardly up to the task of such techincal jargon, but he seems to have included the idea that the arch was included because they'd have to reach through to latch the claws over the bowstring. Either great minds think amazingly alike, or at the very least he should mention RAT as one of the websites he refferenced. At least he credited you Duncan, but I suppose he has to since your work is published. To do other wise would be plagairism. :lol:
Is G. W. Scheuer or are any memebers of this engine's crew RAT members?
P. Clodius Secundus (Randi Richert), Legio III Cyrenaica
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
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Indeed a very usefull website.
Thanks for the link.
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I'm glad to see the concept at least partially adopted. I wish they'd contact me so I could explain the rest. Most importantly, there is no support in the images for the idea that they shot with the base (Itallic A or Rho shaped) in the fully forward position. Trajan's clearly shows them standing on the ground behind the cart. If a base tall enough to properly elevate the weapon is used, the crew can't effectively work the engine and there isn't sufficient room in the carts to stand in the back with it. That was the pivotal thing we learned during our field trials with the Scorpion last spring. There isn't room in my cart and it's almost a foot too long. The in-swinger configuration exacerbates the problem since the loader needs to reach further forward to hitch the bowstring. Their insistence on a fixed-arm winch doesn't help either. It forces them to add the upside-down Vitruvian hinged prop and sawtoothed backstay to keep it horizontal during winching. Unfortunately neither of those features are evident in Cupid Gem, Trajan's, or Marcus Aurelius. The inclusion of the pintle on the front shelf is a novel idea, but superfluous since once the engine is drawn while resting on the backstay it can pivoted on the universal joint. The beauty of the the Rho shaped base is that once it is transported in the fully forward position it can be slid to the rear and down for shooting so that the transverse beam and horizontal brace sit on the bed and the backstay hangs off the back. The crew can now reach the weapon to load and aim it since the frame sits just above the side boards and slightly forwards of the axle as seen on the column. Despite the insistence of some experts that the images were just artistic folly, I set out to see if one design could fit all the known evidence. Lo and behold, this one works. It also happens to be the simplest and doesn't require the invention of parts not found in the historical record. I know, absence of evidence etc. etc..... but it's either the way they did it or the way they should have.
P. Clodius Secundus (Randi Richert), Legio III Cyrenaica
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
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@ P. Clodius Secundus
Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the website's owner. I found this site by fortune using Google! Maybe you should write him an e-mail...
@ Duncan
Thanks also to you! Your Osprey book has motivated me to learn more about Roman catapults!
Guido
Guido
