Work in Progress

Various Ancient 1/72 Siege Weapons Scratchbuilt

Posted by Xantippos on 22 Aug 2021, 08:47

These summer days I've entertained myself with ancient wargames, and making some ancient weapons :-) . Still unpainted, although when painted they will not change much (some inkings to make look the wood old, as they are basically made out of wood for more realism) and changing the rubber bands to brown ones at least, as they are all really working!

From left to right;

Chinese Siege Rake; based on historical drawings, the chinese had this kind of huge "scythe" or "rake", to destroy battlements or crush people on the wall :P . Slightly loosely based, out my memory after having looked many times at it. According to greek historians, a similar thing (in scythe form) was used in a siege in Anatolia.

Hand mangonel; the most basic and primitive catapult, one that was just pulled by hand :-) . Actually working, I can throw rocks on my unsuspecting minis :P . Based on a chinese model, but the same concept would be used by Mongols, Byzantines and others.

Triple ballista; a concept invented by Chinese again, apparently to achieve a tremendous strength. I added wheels to aid in transportation :P . I tried to make it work somehow using it's three "bows", but I didn't manage it so the back two are just decorative :-) .

Finally, a roman "battering" hand :-) . This one is basically my own invention. A bit inspired by Archimedes hook, which some 18th century painters depicted as a hand. I went a bit further and used an articulated hand of an action figure, as considering something that might have been invented to grip enemy ladders and siege engines :-) .

I think now I have managed to post the pictures correctly. To seem them bigger, just click on them and then click again on the image.

General view;

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more pics;

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Posted by Peter on 27 Aug 2021, 17:32

Great work! it doesn't have to be always a ready to make kit! This scratchbuild catapults I like! :thumbup:
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Posted by PaulRPetri on 27 Aug 2021, 21:03

Cool!!
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Posted by Rich W on 28 Aug 2021, 10:17

Very clever stuff.
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Posted by Howlin on 31 Aug 2021, 08:17

man I really like that war scythe and battering hand.

Will make for some great anti ship inspired defenses. As the Archimedes hook is on the list!

inspiring...
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Posted by Xantippos on 05 Sep 2021, 13:58

Many thanks for the comments ;) . I have done one more, will try to post it next Sunday!
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Posted by Howlin on 10 Sep 2021, 19:55

Alright you inspired me.... Had extra scraps around, so I had to make a version of the claw one, Thought it would be a cool ship grappling devise, or anti elephant? just for fun....

While the arm is balanced over the base, I also filled the post with tiny rocks to weight it down, and works great. I would have like to have it on a pivoting base but with just being a stand alone thing the base would not have been very stable/ useful.


Hope you enjoy, thanks for sharing!


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Posted by Xantippos on 12 Sep 2021, 15:03

How cool! and so glad I have inspired you :) ! setting it in a boat makes it wonderful, and even more historically accurate :) .

Here is the image that inspired me;

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Apparently, the Chinese had plenty of variants :-) .

Here is another;

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I was reading a book about fortifications, and they also speak about a compressed air catapult, I need someday to investigate on how that would look :P .

I did recently a homemade Mongolian Hwacha, but didn't have the time to take pics yet.
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Posted by Beano Boy on 13 Sep 2021, 00:38

Very interesting topic. They all look the part that they will play.
Well done, imagination knows no bounds.BB
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