Models in Reduced Scale

HO Railroad	Goldmine	Fishing Boat	Bounty Longboat	Windmill	Catapult

Creating models of boats and other structures is a very relaxing hobby. With me it started with an HO train lay-out in the garage. But I quickly learned that a nice set-up requires space, something we don't have. I built some models of buildings, rail-trestles and other structures from scratch, but never finished the whole system. Then I became interested in other things, and here are some of the results. Also click on the box "Making a Windmill" above.

Then our older daughter had a school project to build a model of gold mining operations in California. I 'helped' her with a styrafoam display that included panning, water blasting and underground digging. Her teacher gave me an A+ for my efforts.

Later I decided to make a model sail boat. Pictures of the result are shown below. This model is of a lobster boat used about one hundred years ago by French fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean.

I also made a replica of the longboat used by Captain Blight, of the sailing ship 'The Bounty', when he and some of his crew were set adrift after the mutiny in the South Pacific.

Being an old Dutchman, I had to try a windmill. I sent for some plans from Amsterdam and had fun putting together a "standaard" or post mill. In this design the whole building can be rotated about a central post. This was done so the mill could be adjusted for changes in wind direction. The model shown below looks almost identical to the real one that belonged in our family about two hundred years ago. It was used to grind wheat.

There is a technical difficulty in making the "wieken" or blades. The thin slats have to be positioned at slightly increasing angles to the main beam so that the whole blade has a twist. For the model this required a special drilling and indexing fixture. It turned out to be the most difficult part of this whole project. Click heree to return to Family History.

So what is a "trebuchet"?A trebuchet is basically a catapult with a sling shot attached to the swinging arm. Large "machines" were used in medieval times to throw boulders and other objects at (or over) the walls of castles and towns during a siege. This was before gun powder was invented. Recently I decided to design a working model to see if we can throw small rocks, golf balls, oranges, or what ever.

The Internet is a good source of information, and I started with plans from there. However, I quickly found that the models were either too small or so big that you need a crane or truck to haul the thing around. For small models the wood was to be cut to non-standard dimensions and the plans were not very clear about how the thing was put together. So, I came up with a model that you can carry in the trunk of you car and still be able to shoot more than peanuts or grapes. (Back to Rhodes)

My model has an arm that is a little under three feet long. The weights are five pound lead scuba diving weights hanging from a wooden yoke. Both the yoke and main shaft have ball bearings to keep the friction to a minimum. When the arm is released, the projectile in the sling is first dragged along a trough, then lifted up and over as the heavy counter weight drops down and acts like a lever to power the sling. Notice the pin and three rings used for the trigger cord.

		With a quick yank of the green cord, the pin is pulled from the three ring screws. The arm then starts its swing. One part of the sling is attached to the arm and the other string has a ring that releases from a pin at the end of the arm (barely visible in the picture above).		The result should be that the projectile is hurled with a perfect trajectory. BUT IT AIN'T THAT SIMPLE.

With a quick yank of the green cord, the pin is pulled from the three ring screws. The arm then starts its swing. One part of the sling is attached to the arm and the other string has a ring that releases from a pin at the end of the arm (barely visible in the picture above).

The result should be that the projectile is hurled with a perfect trajectory. BUT IT AIN'T THAT SIMPLE.

I was very conservative at first and my design allowed only ten pounds of counter weights. "It would be enough to throw a small rock way-out-of-sight." BULL!!!

Keep in mind that this is a model and the base, for example, is only 27 inched long. My first launch had a small rock (3.5 ounces) and it traveled about fifty feet. Not bad, but not good enough. I tried a heavier rock and it went about five feet. BAD. A large orange simply slipped out of the sling and landed behind the contraption. Some tuning with the sling length helped but the whole thing was not good enough. So now I am back to the drawing board to add more counter weights, a steel shaft and other improvements. More should come later. At least it would be nice to throw an orange across the street to a "neighbor".

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