The Construction of a Medieval-Style Ballista

As we walk through the workshop, we see a Timber block and butchering mechanism that will provide the weight for our medieval-style ballista. The Timber block is a crucial component of the device, providing the necessary stability and leverage to propel the projectile. By using this Timber block, we can create a system that mimics the real-life ballista used during medieval times.

The Pulley System

One of the most impressive features of our ballista design is its pulley system. The pulley allows us to lift and maneuver the device with ease, making it possible to fire the projectile from a distance. As we see in this diagram, the pulley system is connected to the Timber block via a series of ropes and levers. When we pull on the rope, the pulley system kicks into action, lifting the Timber block upwards.

Counterweights and Counterbalance

To prevent the ballista from being blown backwards by the force of the projectile, we need to use counterweights to balance out the weight. The counterweight is attached to the side of the Timber block, providing a opposing force that keeps the device stable. By using a combination of pulleys, levers, and counterweights, we can create a system that maintains perfect balance.

The English Windless Crossbow System

Our ballista design is heavily inspired by the English windless crossbow system. This ancient device used a similar mechanism to propel projectiles, relying on tension rather than springs or other mechanisms. By using this technology, we can create a system that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Safety Concerns

While our ballista design is an impressive feat of engineering, there are several safety concerns that we need to address. One of the biggest risks is the potential for the device to malfunction, causing injury or damage. To mitigate this risk, we have taken steps to incorporate multiple safety features into the system, including a secure firing mechanism and regular checks on the tension of the pulleys.

The Crew

Our team has worked tirelessly to bring this project to life, working closely with the production crew to ensure that every detail is accurate and authentic. From the sculpting of the Timber block to the setting up of the pulley system, everyone involved has a crucial role to play in the success of this project.

Crane Operations

One of the biggest challenges we faced was transporting the ballista into position on set. To overcome this challenge, we used a crane to lift the device into place, taking care to ensure that it was secure and stable. This required careful planning and execution, as we needed to balance the weight of the ballista with the need for safety.

The Finished Product

As we prepare to launch our ballista on set, we are excited to see how everything will come together. From the finished product itself to the special effects and stunts that accompany its use, this is going to be an unforgettable experience. With its sleek design and functional mechanism, our ballista is ready to take center stage.

Construction Timeline

While construction has taken longer than initially anticipated, we are confident that our ballista will be completed within three weeks. This allows us to fit around the construction schedule while ensuring that every detail is accurate and authentic. From sculpting the Timber block to setting up the pulley system, we have worked closely with the production crew to bring this project to life.

The Art of Weathering

One of the most important aspects of creating a realistic medieval setting is weathering the wood. By using actual wood rather than sculpted versions, we can achieve a level of authenticity that would be impossible to replicate otherwise. The process of burning and brushing wood creates a unique texture and patina that adds depth and realism to our ballista.

Special Effects

As we prepare for filming, we are aware of the special effects that will be required to bring this device to life. From the tension in the arm to the motion of the projectile, every detail must be carefully planned and executed. By using a combination of practical effects and CGI, we can create an immersive experience that transports viewers back to medieval times.

The Team's Experience

Our team has been working on this project for several months, pouring their hearts and souls into creating a device that is both functional and visually stunning. From building the Timber block to setting up the pulley system, every member of our crew has played a vital role in bringing this ballista to life.

The Final Product

As we stand before our finished ballista, we can't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. This device is not just a creation of our imagination; it's a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. From its sleek design to its functional mechanism, every detail has been carefully considered to create an authentic medieval experience.

The Road Ahead

While we are excited to see our ballista come to life on set, we are also aware that there is still much work to be done. With the help of the production crew and the support of our team, we are confident that we can overcome any challenges that arise and create a truly unforgettable experience.

Our medieval-style ballista is an impressive feat of engineering, designed to transport viewers back in time to a world of knights and castles. By combining practical effects with careful attention to detail, we have created a device that is both functional and visually stunning. Whether you're a historian or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of medieval design, our ballista is sure to captivate and inspire.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enlast year tested and I were invited behind the scenes of HBO's House of the Dragon during its season 2 production we'll take you behind the scenes where Crafts People are painstakingly making props and weapons for the show they're engineering Dragon riding Rigs and designing the iconic trappings of Westeros let's dive in Tim you are holding a crossbow yeah I am and this is going to be one of the characters crossbows um and there's some quite specific requirements for this crossbow and hence the design we have here um the character is going to be using it on the dragon back yeah so and authentic crossbows are quite difficult to to right with aanin or or a both hands and both feet exactly so it's quite difficult to do that on Dragon back yeah so to sort of get round this we've we've done a latchet bow and this latchet bow slides forwards like this got to click it into place first so this latche bow slides forwards there locks into the hook comes back and we have put the there's going to be a lat at the back a catch at the back and then that comes up and then this is the trigger here and that fires okay so I'm looking at this and I have been to the Wallace collection and I've seen a lot of armor up close and this looks like Real Steel work and armor work yeah well that's it I mean we're trying to make everything look as authentic as possible looks absolutely authentically like 16th 17th century Munitions yeah exactly and we a lot of the technology is we've just taken it straight from from how it was you oral origal designs so this just locked off and it's a little bit temperamental in some places you know this and the actors are going to have to get used to that but actually I I think it's going to help them there more character to it yeah exactly and so I mean this isn't a steel no right it looks like that well and and this isn't the eventual one we're going to make this bow we're going to do in a different material as well this is just a a standby one for the moment which is just a plastic one but we're eventually going to have fiberglass core in there with a rubber alter and that means we can sort of alter that tension give it whatever we feels the right amount you make this as easy or as hard as you'd like to exactly so we might have some shots where they want to release a bolt and it want to fly off but also we have to remember we have to be safe on set so everything has to be as secure and safe as possible you can't accidentally fire a bolt cor so at some point this we're going to fit in a safety mechanism which will mean that we can look at this cocked and it won't be able to amazing shoot now I'm looking at this I see what is clearly Jeweler's wax and I look below you and I see pictures of inlays so are you hand oh my God you're hand carving inlays that's right so Darren here he's just got the work nice to meet you nice to meet you um he's basically we've got the reference images and we're trying to make an ivory bone look um inlays and so he's just taking each piece of um of wax and he's melted it into the on Contour onto the Contour of here then cut that back and now he's hand carving each one and then this will be cast in resin to be the ivory exactly so we'll mold that and then cast it and then we'll be able to make numerous versions of it are you are you having as much fun with this scrim shot as it looks like oh yeah yeah definitely I love all this thing it's uh it's aches in the in the hand a little bit but um yeah it's uh it's it's nice to it to just sit down do something ornate doing bigger stuff sometimes little bit Darren's been working a lot on the on the on the furniture for the swords so the pommels and the cross guard so this is something slightly different and um it it needs a different technique as well with a with the sort of more or less refined in some ways to get that sort of scratchy feel because that will come through in the eventual finish when um when when we add the the the paint effects and detailing we'll just give it that punch hopefully well and it it it I mean these ivory in scrim show always feels sort of like devotional objects and so I imagine that to get it right is a very specific meditative State um yeah I just put myself in what it would have been like in medieval no but I mean just taking it to one piece at a time and really yeah absolutely yeah you could do it a lot quicker on modern techniques you know CNC and 3D printing but this is more of a labor of love and I think it does show in the final product oh yeah I'm a uh I love love the the wheel lock pistols at the VNA it's one of my favorite displays because of how ornate every last bit of everything is so when I'm looking at this even these sharp Corners those will go away this will be part of a much more sort of old looking exactly and I think we're going to I mean this morning I was just sort of putting this together and thinking well do you know what I think we should do another section here I haven't told Darren yet but another Ivory inlay section on the front here and we're going to knock off the shamas on here and and make it just feel a bit more but um it's you know we've had it in the actress's hand and she's comfortable with it and it's all designed around her proportions as well and also it's one-handed so you can do all the action wow like this with one hand so uh yeah hopefully it's going to um get some good features that is really really cool yeah um but this is only the little one this is only the this is only the little bigger one yeah so over here we're working on the on a M ballista scorpion I literally didn't see this in the room because it's the biggest thing in the room holy cow so this came through in the script and this is the one you go yeah we're going to have to get our teeth into stuck into this what uh so it's 5 m wide 5 m long and it's we think it's going to be about two tons when it's finished um we it's being made out of real wood and steel well it's actually aluminium okay so underneath there you can't see but there's an aluminium frame okay which has been completely welded together a space frame that's been bolted exactly and then all of this is 25 mil uh Douglas fur timber that's been added on the outside and um and then you know in a real uh ballista you know you'd have a self bow so it would you know maybe a wooden bow or something like that in the in the original one so that but we can't do that with there something this size yeah and and also we can't um we we didn't want to have it look like a like a Roman um torsion engine blister so we've kind of gone for a cheat and up here there's some uh elastic bands effectively so there's elastic here so basically when you pull back on here so I'm going to pull this to me oh it just gives a little bit of tension it just feels like it's bending but it's actually the elastic inside so amazing and then I mean basically over here is the is the sorry I'm duck under here is this is the m the model of it ah and how it's eventually going to work so oh my God and you're going to end up building this whole thing too well construction are building this they're working on that right this these are going to be this is going to be a uh just a Timber block and and but this gives us the weight because on a real ballista you can push this mechanism forwards yourself but because we're 3 and 1/2 M up yep it needs a counterweight to put it forward so that's why we've got this look at that so at the moment it's a basically like a English windless crossbow system and uh the pulley go ratch forwards we might have to have a little uh lift up there and then down and then we draw back oh my gosh um this is sort of one of those have you been excited about this since you first saw the drawings yeah well I I got to draw it was like it was when I got the option just to sort of look at how it was all going to work and it uh I you know you start thinking about all the possible ways you can deal with this and then we're going to have if you see there there's some steps yeah and those steps are going to be here so we'll have uh a a loader a stunt man who climb up there God the top there and then there and then we just pull this rope here this makes me so happy cuz it's only I mean you say you're not building a real ballista but only in the tension in this arm everything else about it is real yeah exactly everything's real apart from uh apart from the amount of tension we put on it I mean it's big enough that even moving it for camera safe involves safety issues yeah absolutely and we've got to put this on top of the red keep wall which is about um 30 feet up so we're going to have to Crane this into position um so even things like that need thinking about right so and so you have to incorporate not just the the the the the requirements of the plot and the script into the device but also where it's going to be and how it's going to be shot with and where and where whether it has to travel yeah what the unions are like where it's traveling I'm sure are all parts of your math yeah amazing so um yeah and and we're just at this stage and we're about to send we're about to get these um fiberglass so you got the fiberglass molds there oh so these will be the these are sculpted correct so yeah and they they've got sort of a steel look with bands on them and then we'll place these into the as an amateure and then we'll fiberglass onto that and hopefully hopefully it won't Shake itself apart when we uh when we come to fire on set oh my God I love that I walked into this room and I've spent the last half hour here and did not notice this I know and um I can't wait to see it on the Bas as well because and and and feel what it's like to actually maneuver around and we've we've done a few cheats you know we've got the wheels made and we put bearings in and something that wouldn't be medieval but yeah I think to all intense purposes it's uh it feels pretty genuine when uh so where is it in its construction how many more weeks do you have to finish this uh We've we've got a we've got a while but we think it's about three weeks out about three weeks out yeah we we we think so um in terms of Labor yeah yeah that's fast yeah I mean it's it's it's taken a bit longer than we we we thought but it doesn't play till July so which is what six six to eight weeks so we've got plenty of time right um and it's fitting into other people schedules so we have to work around construction we're going to do the they're going to burn and brush it to give it that look so we've got to try and fit into their time constraints and burning and brushing is such a key part of the weathering there's no reason you'd sculpt this because you're just going to get a much better result out of using actual wood yeah exactly exactly it would take weeks to get sculptors to imitate that texture yeah yeah and we do sculpt things here but it's picking and choosing we've just done a shield uh so but uh yeah this this is just much better to do it for real I think amazing well Tim I thank you for showing this to me this is beautiful having built a couple of large crossbows that are not nearly as large as this this is magnificent my pleasure to show you dude h i i the day it goes up it's going to be so thrilling I I I I can't wait to see it up there and uh and see it from the beginning of the of a concept in my mind to suddenly seeing it on the set it's just going to be so exciting so I'm just uh yeah really looking forward to it amazinglast year tested and I were invited behind the scenes of HBO's House of the Dragon during its season 2 production we'll take you behind the scenes where Crafts People are painstakingly making props and weapons for the show they're engineering Dragon riding Rigs and designing the iconic trappings of Westeros let's dive in Tim you are holding a crossbow yeah I am and this is going to be one of the characters crossbows um and there's some quite specific requirements for this crossbow and hence the design we have here um the character is going to be using it on the dragon back yeah so and authentic crossbows are quite difficult to to right with aanin or or a both hands and both feet exactly so it's quite difficult to do that on Dragon back yeah so to sort of get round this we've we've done a latchet bow and this latchet bow slides forwards like this got to click it into place first so this latche bow slides forwards there locks into the hook comes back and we have put the there's going to be a lat at the back a catch at the back and then that comes up and then this is the trigger here and that fires okay so I'm looking at this and I have been to the Wallace collection and I've seen a lot of armor up close and this looks like Real Steel work and armor work yeah well that's it I mean we're trying to make everything look as authentic as possible looks absolutely authentically like 16th 17th century Munitions yeah exactly and we a lot of the technology is we've just taken it straight from from how it was you oral origal designs so this just locked off and it's a little bit temperamental in some places you know this and the actors are going to have to get used to that but actually I I think it's going to help them there more character to it yeah exactly and so I mean this isn't a steel no right it looks like that well and and this isn't the eventual one we're going to make this bow we're going to do in a different material as well this is just a a standby one for the moment which is just a plastic one but we're eventually going to have fiberglass core in there with a rubber alter and that means we can sort of alter that tension give it whatever we feels the right amount you make this as easy or as hard as you'd like to exactly so we might have some shots where they want to release a bolt and it want to fly off but also we have to remember we have to be safe on set so everything has to be as secure and safe as possible you can't accidentally fire a bolt cor so at some point this we're going to fit in a safety mechanism which will mean that we can look at this cocked and it won't be able to amazing shoot now I'm looking at this I see what is clearly Jeweler's wax and I look below you and I see pictures of inlays so are you hand oh my God you're hand carving inlays that's right so Darren here he's just got the work nice to meet you nice to meet you um he's basically we've got the reference images and we're trying to make an ivory bone look um inlays and so he's just taking each piece of um of wax and he's melted it into the on Contour onto the Contour of here then cut that back and now he's hand carving each one and then this will be cast in resin to be the ivory exactly so we'll mold that and then cast it and then we'll be able to make numerous versions of it are you are you having as much fun with this scrim shot as it looks like oh yeah yeah definitely I love all this thing it's uh it's aches in the in the hand a little bit but um yeah it's uh it's it's nice to it to just sit down do something ornate doing bigger stuff sometimes little bit Darren's been working a lot on the on the on the furniture for the swords so the pommels and the cross guard so this is something slightly different and um it it needs a different technique as well with a with the sort of more or less refined in some ways to get that sort of scratchy feel because that will come through in the eventual finish when um when when we add the the the paint effects and detailing we'll just give it that punch hopefully well and it it it I mean these ivory in scrim show always feels sort of like devotional objects and so I imagine that to get it right is a very specific meditative State um yeah I just put myself in what it would have been like in medieval no but I mean just taking it to one piece at a time and really yeah absolutely yeah you could do it a lot quicker on modern techniques you know CNC and 3D printing but this is more of a labor of love and I think it does show in the final product oh yeah I'm a uh I love love the the wheel lock pistols at the VNA it's one of my favorite displays because of how ornate every last bit of everything is so when I'm looking at this even these sharp Corners those will go away this will be part of a much more sort of old looking exactly and I think we're going to I mean this morning I was just sort of putting this together and thinking well do you know what I think we should do another section here I haven't told Darren yet but another Ivory inlay section on the front here and we're going to knock off the shamas on here and and make it just feel a bit more but um it's you know we've had it in the actress's hand and she's comfortable with it and it's all designed around her proportions as well and also it's one-handed so you can do all the action wow like this with one hand so uh yeah hopefully it's going to um get some good features that is really really cool yeah um but this is only the little one this is only the this is only the little bigger one yeah so over here we're working on the on a M ballista scorpion I literally didn't see this in the room because it's the biggest thing in the room holy cow so this came through in the script and this is the one you go yeah we're going to have to get our teeth into stuck into this what uh so it's 5 m wide 5 m long and it's we think it's going to be about two tons when it's finished um we it's being made out of real wood and steel well it's actually aluminium okay so underneath there you can't see but there's an aluminium frame okay which has been completely welded together a space frame that's been bolted exactly and then all of this is 25 mil uh Douglas fur timber that's been added on the outside and um and then you know in a real uh ballista you know you'd have a self bow so it would you know maybe a wooden bow or something like that in the in the original one so that but we can't do that with there something this size yeah and and also we can't um we we didn't want to have it look like a like a Roman um torsion engine blister so we've kind of gone for a cheat and up here there's some uh elastic bands effectively so there's elastic here so basically when you pull back on here so I'm going to pull this to me oh it just gives a little bit of tension it just feels like it's bending but it's actually the elastic inside so amazing and then I mean basically over here is the is the sorry I'm duck under here is this is the m the model of it ah and how it's eventually going to work so oh my God and you're going to end up building this whole thing too well construction are building this they're working on that right this these are going to be this is going to be a uh just a Timber block and and but this gives us the weight because on a real ballista you can push this mechanism forwards yourself but because we're 3 and 1/2 M up yep it needs a counterweight to put it forward so that's why we've got this look at that so at the moment it's a basically like a English windless crossbow system and uh the pulley go ratch forwards we might have to have a little uh lift up there and then down and then we draw back oh my gosh um this is sort of one of those have you been excited about this since you first saw the drawings yeah well I I got to draw it was like it was when I got the option just to sort of look at how it was all going to work and it uh I you know you start thinking about all the possible ways you can deal with this and then we're going to have if you see there there's some steps yeah and those steps are going to be here so we'll have uh a a loader a stunt man who climb up there God the top there and then there and then we just pull this rope here this makes me so happy cuz it's only I mean you say you're not building a real ballista but only in the tension in this arm everything else about it is real yeah exactly everything's real apart from uh apart from the amount of tension we put on it I mean it's big enough that even moving it for camera safe involves safety issues yeah absolutely and we've got to put this on top of the red keep wall which is about um 30 feet up so we're going to have to Crane this into position um so even things like that need thinking about right so and so you have to incorporate not just the the the the the requirements of the plot and the script into the device but also where it's going to be and how it's going to be shot with and where and where whether it has to travel yeah what the unions are like where it's traveling I'm sure are all parts of your math yeah amazing so um yeah and and we're just at this stage and we're about to send we're about to get these um fiberglass so you got the fiberglass molds there oh so these will be the these are sculpted correct so yeah and they they've got sort of a steel look with bands on them and then we'll place these into the as an amateure and then we'll fiberglass onto that and hopefully hopefully it won't Shake itself apart when we uh when we come to fire on set oh my God I love that I walked into this room and I've spent the last half hour here and did not notice this I know and um I can't wait to see it on the Bas as well because and and and feel what it's like to actually maneuver around and we've we've done a few cheats you know we've got the wheels made and we put bearings in and something that wouldn't be medieval but yeah I think to all intense purposes it's uh it feels pretty genuine when uh so where is it in its construction how many more weeks do you have to finish this uh We've we've got a we've got a while but we think it's about three weeks out about three weeks out yeah we we we think so um in terms of Labor yeah yeah that's fast yeah I mean it's it's it's taken a bit longer than we we we thought but it doesn't play till July so which is what six six to eight weeks so we've got plenty of time right um and it's fitting into other people schedules so we have to work around construction we're going to do the they're going to burn and brush it to give it that look so we've got to try and fit into their time constraints and burning and brushing is such a key part of the weathering there's no reason you'd sculpt this because you're just going to get a much better result out of using actual wood yeah exactly exactly it would take weeks to get sculptors to imitate that texture yeah yeah and we do sculpt things here but it's picking and choosing we've just done a shield uh so but uh yeah this this is just much better to do it for real I think amazing well Tim I thank you for showing this to me this is beautiful having built a couple of large crossbows that are not nearly as large as this this is magnificent my pleasure to show you dude h i i the day it goes up it's going to be so thrilling I I I I can't wait to see it up there and uh and see it from the beginning of the of a concept in my mind to suddenly seeing it on the set it's just going to be so exciting so I'm just uh yeah really looking forward to it amazing\n"