Tuesday 11 June 2013

Perrier catapult

A type of sling catapult called a Perrier.
Basically a large static version of the Fustibalus (staff sling) it has no counterweight, but relies on the Crew  to pull both down and back to launch the Missile, which makes it a traction operated weapon.
Perriers range from a small, one-person devices to ones pulled by many soldiers or even a team of horses. At any size the traction-powered Perrier was a quite effective weapon because it could be  reloaded and fired relatively quickly.
The only Definition I can find for the word Perrier is this one;
Per´ri`er
n.1.(Mil.) A short mortar used formerly for throwing stone shot.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co

The Perrier is made from  balsawood, a cocktail stick and two pins,
The two Crewmen come from the Zvezda Medieval Heavy Bombard set.
Even though the device looks big, I reckon two would be enough if the arm was balanced correctly it would, even loaded, only need a small amount of force to get it moving.
I´ve left it looking a bit rough and ready, not cutting off the planks flush with the main Support Frame.
The sling is made from a bit of paper, the hook holding the release rope  made by softening the tip of the Cocktailstick in warm water, bending it adding a strip of paper and filling the gaps with PVA.
A couple of contemporary pics of Perrier´s
 Here´s a short Video of a  Perrier being demonstrated at the Tower of London.
 
They are powering it with 4 People, two..one at each side and the other two right under the arm!! This means they have to duck down to avoid being hit with the pulling end of the arm!!
Better to do it like this lot.
 
 

20 comments:

  1. That is a cracking piece of scratch building Paul and I was really surprised at just how far the second team sent the projectile!

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    1. Thanks Michael.
      it does go one hell of a distance ..I might build a small working Version :-D

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  2. Fantastic and so creative. Brilliant work - I think it looks perfect.

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  3. Nice modeling, Mr. Bods.

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  4. I really like this one!!Great work, and great model!
    Phil.

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  5. Lovely model, great example of scratch building.

    Regards,
    Matt

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  6. I think the word "perrier" commes from "pierrier" or "pierrière" from "pierre = stone" and means stone launcher. A pierrière or perrier could launch a 6 to 24 lbs stone at 40-80 m (yards) with a crew of 8-16 man and a good rate of fire of one shot per minute (againt one or two shots per hour for a mangonnel or a trebuchet)...

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    1. I reckon you are right Timur...Well done that man. !! :-D
      It´s obvious really...I was thinking too complicated.

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  7. Hola
    Buena si señor,queda muy bien
    un saludo

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  8. That is great! I've seen so many pictures of it but I didn't believe it was that effective...

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  9. Just outstanding there is a great feeling of motion in the positioning of the figures.

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  10. Nice work on the model Paul, it's quite cool to watch it in operation, it had a decent range!

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  11. Damn fine work. I've been neglect at looking out your blog. But this will drive me on to pay more attention.

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  12. Another great looking siege engine. That second video was pretty impressive.

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  13. Another great build Paul!

    How's the weather on the Bahamas? :-D

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://www.peterscave.blogspot.be

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    1. Thanks. The weather is suprisingly cold for the time of year..mind you the beach´s are really lovely :-D

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  14. Great model. They were quite common and hey very powerful.
    Cool idea.

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    1. Thanks Markus.
      Odd that there are no model kits of them.

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  15. nice work Paul! your siege engines are always good!

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