How cool is this!
This is the Dragon, an arbalest with a 400lb bow hand made by Mathew in Masterton. For scale the wheels are 1 meter across. The Dragon fires an ultra modern line of 25mm APFS munition and is not to be taken lightly by people who don’t want to get pinned to trees in pairs.
The Dragon will be joining Chucky, Tiny and a few other friends for a bit of a fling on the weekend of the 19th - 20th of May.
March 23, 2007 at 2:07 pm
That thing is beautiful. Spring steel for the arms? (Gotta be; wood that thin couldn’t possible last for long or produce that much force.)
March 23, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Yes, the spring tempering of the bow elements were done by Auld & Voss of Palmerston North. The only part that Mathew didn’t do himself.
March 23, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Now were talking! I designed something similar to launch a longline beyond the surfline into an onshore wind.
The local cop took an unhealthy interest in my project. Perhaps I should not have mentioned shelling the nest of feminist eco-crones down the road if I got bored while drinking.
March 23, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Damn, its bigger than mine-time to go to work!
March 23, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Live with what nature gave you like the rest of us.
March 24, 2007 at 12:11 pm
the weekend of the 19th - 20th of May.
Crap! I was going to come see you guys throw things, but that’s the weekend of the 48hr film competition. If I don’t help with the later, I need to find a new place to live.
There will be a next year, right?!
March 24, 2007 at 2:11 pm
No problem, I plan to make this at least an annual event if not 6 monthly so we may be having the next one about November.
They’ll be plenty of video footage anyway.
April 1, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Dang, that thing *is* beautiful. So much smaller and lighter-looking that period replicas. This design really *is* field-portable.