6 replies to this topic

[UpperHand]

I just recently finished a beast of a snowball catapult. It's 8 feet tall by 8 feet long and goes about 200 yards (with a baseball). It uses surgical tubing for the power, and has steel and rubber wheels mounted into the base for help with easy mobility. I had a question about the pouch, or what actually holds the snowballs. I tried jeans at first but over a week of firing they tore. I need a good material for the pouch that will stand up to a cold, wet, New England winter, but won't tear with the high tension of the tubing. Any ideas? Help would be appreciated, and I'll post pictures of the monster below:

Edited by UpperHand, 16 November 2008 - 03:05 PM.

[Eboreg]

You know, I think people here would be more interested in that thing if said you were going to catapult nerf grenades from it.

[UpperHand]

I put it in off topic because I have no intention of hurling nerf grenades. The chance of you actually hitting someone with said grenade would be minimal. Besides, they would be so impractical at ANY war because you are never that far away from the target.

[TheNerfLoki]

Leather.

[UpperHand]

Leather.

This is what I was thinking initally, but after doing some "research" online, I am thinking of buying 2 basketball nets and weaving them together. The elastic could then pull on multiple cords, not just one area.

[badger]

The one problem I see with the basketball nets is the forward motion to launch the ball. When you release, the forward motion could rip the snowball apart.

I feel that a canvas pouch would be more useful. In fact, a 3-man slingshot meant for propelling water balloons would work great. Here is the link to order one:

3-Man Slingshot

The range on the one listed above is even longer than your homemade design. They even have multiple options for range if you search the site. Simply buy one of these, hook it up to your rig and there you go. I do feel though that a snowball fried from that distance could be very dangerous. Getting hit by that thing could cause some really serious injuries, especially if you get a headshot.

[UpperHand]

The one problem I see with the basketball nets is the forward motion to launch the ball. When you release, the forward motion could rip the snowball apart.

I feel that a canvas pouch would be more useful. In fact, a 3-man slingshot meant for propelling water balloons would work great. Here is the link to order one:

3-Man Slingshot

The range on the one listed above is even longer than your homemade design. They even have multiple options for range if you search the site. Simply buy one of these, hook it up to your rig and there you go. I do feel though that a snowball fried from that distance could be very dangerous. Getting hit by that thing could cause some really serious injuries, especially if you get a headshot.

I suppose that could work. I could also just line the inside of the nets with some fabric or something. I got the idea from this site: http://www.siege-eng...ndPouches.shtml
Also, I would plan to launch things bigger than snowballs, for a fort "wall breaking effect." The canvas couldn't launch anything that big. I might line the inside of the basketball hoop with some canvas from an old army tent as they did on the website or something. They launch pumpkins so they don' have to worry about the projectile breaking apart . Thanks for the ideas so far everyone.
Any new ideas are certainly welcome!!

Edited by UpperHand, 16 November 2008 - 05:37 PM.