Get some of that aluminum foil used to wrap Hershey's Kisses (or just use regular aluminum foil) and make a ball out of some of them. Use a many as you need to get the ball to the diameter you want. Paint the ball grey or whatever color you want your stones to be. You can wad them up loose to help reduce the final weight and still get the diameter you want.

I have built cardstock trebuchets from another site and use aluminum foil balls for the ammo. They work good.

Yep, if you want to stick with a paper solution you could wad up a piece of paper towel or napkin or toilet paper to the diameter you want and appy a white glue and water mixture, let it dry, then paint that. It would look like a round stone projectile. The dried paint and glue mixture would help it retain its shape. Spraying it with a clear coat would help with the durability. I have used masking tape wads too. Anything that you can make into a ball would work. Just maintain a consistant weight for repeated accuracy and a weight that the model can handle.

I have bulilt a few model trebuchets as well as some larger ones that throw tennis balls and golf balls. I have even helped in building one used to chunk watermelons. The amount of counterweight used, the weight of the projectile, the length and weight of the throwing arm, the length of the sling, the size of and material used to make the pouch, and the angle of the release pin all combine to influence the range and accuaracy of the machine. Change one of those and the you get a different outcome. Sometimes the projectile even goes straight up or flys out backwards. That is a real thrill.

Anyone wanting to build a relatively simple working trebuchet out of wood can check out this place:

You are dead on about the variables. Getting consistent results "on target" requires patience and work. Just like the real thing!!!!!!!

Pall_S, here is an idea for another seige engine:

There are definitely some winners in the set. The siege tower (sans side towers and steam roller - thanks for taking the time to create those options), the earthworks (Best part of the set!), the tents, the cannons (I have a gunpowder predeliction...), the limited stoneworks, all very nice.

The catapults and trebuchet (nonfunctiona;) I am still waffling on, but since I prefer cannon anyway... not too big a deal. The closed structure counts against these models, though for modelling purposes I can understand why you went that route.

The rams, well, the covered one can be salvages with a sharpened piece of wood in place of the ardboard ram. A problem (way too big) but fixable. The other one... bah.

Doing realistic framework structures like catapults and trebuchet is a pain in the backside I am sure, it was likely easier to make the real thing than to create a realistic one out of cardstock. ( Or to put it another way, I have helped build a real one, and wouldn't even begin to attempt a realistic model out of cardstock.) However enough cast metal versions exist that this will not be an insurmountable problem. The Lord of the Rings line by GW in particular has some very fine trebuchet and basllista. (Unlike their Warhammer fantasy battle line...)

The Auld Grump

Yep, that NOVA show was a very good one.

Wheels on a large trbuchet would be used more to allow the counterweight to fall in a more straight line to increase to efficiency of the throw. The machine would usually be built on site, not rolled to the battle.

In regards to the open structure for a card stock trebuchet: A few years ago I found a trebuchet that is made of cardstock. The only parts not made of cardstock are the axels used for the wheels, throwing arm, and counter weight bucket. A paper clip for the release pin. String for the trigger and sling, and cloth for the pouch. I have altered the trigger and use metal wire insead of string. It makes set up go easier and faster. The structural members are made of cardstock. There was a lot of thought put into the design because the finished model is very strong. Particularly the throwing arm. It is a tapered structure with some good internal support that makes it quite strong. It is not a cardstock purist version of a trebuchet, although if you want to mess around a bit you could probably replace some of the non paper components with paper. The thing works great.

I even printed it out once at 55% of its original size. I noticed by chance that the resulting machine had about the same scale for 25mm figures as the Warwolf trebucet of Edward I which is the machines that NOVA show was trying to reproduce.

The reduced cardstock machine I built uses string for the sling, 1/8 inch (3.18mm) wood dowels for the axels, and a small piece of cloth for the pouch. You could possibly use lollipop sticks for the axels if you want to use mainly paper components.

I use between 10 and 16 U.S. pennies for the counter weight, depending on how far I want to fling things. The pennies equal about 25 grams to 40 grams. Aluminum foil balls are used for ammo.

I am not trying to cause any more strife here. I know that Denny & Co. need the business generated by sales of the kits. Just wanted to pass along the fact that a realistic looking, open frame, working trebuchet is possible. Buy the kits and use them in your gaming. My interest in cardstock models is mainly in the contruction of rather than use in gaming so I look for different criteria in models than gamers would.

I would post some pics, but I don't want to get yelled at any more than I alread am going to be.

It's a bit off-topic, but another one of the great benefits to the Trebuchet compared to the various tension/torsion catapult designs is that the Trebuchet doesn't have a part that slams into another part.

Less wear and tear : longer functional life.

Further, the Trebuchet was exceedingly simple to 'reset'...usually faster than a catapult.

Shorter fire time: more shots.

These two factors helped contribute to a much more efficient and effective war machine.

There's plenty of room in the industry for innovative designs.

DougT's discovery shows another way of building one.

It's all good.

I think WWG is trying to balance ease of construction, design quality and useability. As it is, this set is in the advanced skill level if I recall. Going into super realism would likely mean rolling all the beams out of cardstock (lots of tiny beams to build) and gluing them all together. That's a lot of work, chance of failure, and the glue-welds become a structural liability. A more solid frame engine, with art on top prevents that.

I think everyone recognizes the work that went into the set. people will use the set as it inspires them..

Janx

Terry Jones' The Cusades (Aka Pilgrims in Arms) was also very good, if rather tongue in cheek. Not inaccurate just... sardonic.

The Auld Grump, while built on site, the hardware for the trebuchet, and even the timbers, would be packed along in the baggage train. Some were given names such as 'God's Own Catapult'... I rather like the habit of naming siege engines, or on a larger scale, the railroad gun 'Dora'.