Make The Teeny-Tiny Catapult

This is a complete tutorial that will show you how to make the teeny tiny catapult. It's a really fun project that you can use in a lot of different ways. It lends itself to creating games of your own and one of the games I made with this catapult is the storm the castle game where I made a paper castle with window and door holes that you can shoot through for points. You can set up cups at varying distances and get points by shooting into them.

Need Popsicle Sticks? They are cheap and you can get them real fast from Amazon.com. This box should keep your craft making going for a while and will save you from having to eat all those popsicles.

Craft Sticks - 1000 Boxed in Bright Hues by Chenille Kraft

Let's Make This Catapult

Here are the materials you need to make this catapult. Ten popsicle sticks, a ruler, a pencil, scissors, a rubber band, and a roll of masking tape. The rubber band, when cut, should be at least 5 inches in length. Before you start making the catapult take a look at the popsicle sticks and make sure they aren't cracked or weak.

Some Masking tape Tips before you begin

There are some neat tricks that I use when applying masking tape and you should use these techniques.

First off, cut yourself ten pieces of masking tape and stick them lightly to the table or the wall. This will make it easy to grab and use them.

Another great technique for using masking tape is to lay it on a table with the sticky side up. Then you can apply the craft sticks to it easily. And it makes taping two sticks together very easy.

Now cut the popsicle sticks so you end up with what you see in the picture above:

• 3 pieces that are two inches long
• 6 pieces that are four inches long
• 1 piece that is three inches long (leave one rounded end on it)
• 1 piece that is four inches long (leave one rounded end on it)

Now take two of the four inch pieces and two of the two inch pieces and tape them end to end so it looks like one big long stick. The sequence should be short stick, long stick, short stick, long stick. (like this picture):

I tape them using the technique I described in the taping technique above. I lay a piece of tape on the table with the sticky side up then press the two ends of the sticks onto it. Wrap the tape around them with three solid and tight wraps.

Now fold the assembly into a square and tape the final joint together. It should look like the picture here on the left. Use plenty of tape.

Let's Continue with this tutorial on how to make a catapult

Popsicle sticks have been a staple of easy and creative fun for as long as there have been popsicles. A little glue, paint or other things can really set the creative wheels in motion. Here is a book of more projects with craft sticks

Look What You Can Make With Craft Sticks: Over 80 Pictured Crafts and Dozens of Other Ideas (Craft)

BOOKS

Want to build a bigger, better, more powerful or fancier catapult? There are some great books available to you. These books, available at Amazon.com will help take your catapult building to new heights! Pun intended!

The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery - Nice book that shows you how to build ten different catapult projects, moderate wood working and pvc piping kind of stuff. Good book with complete instructions and materials lists.

Buy from Amazon.com: The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery

Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices Want to get a little more creative? This book is off the hook!

Buy From Amazon.com Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices

Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior's Guide to Building Projectile Shooters

These are the homemade machines that you've dreamed of building, from the high-voltage Night Lighter 36 spud gun to the Jam Jar Jet, the Marshmallow Shooter, and the Yagua Blowgun. Including detailed diagrams and supply lists, Gurstelle's simple, step-by-step instructions help workshop warriors at any skill level achieve impressively powerful results.

Kits and More Siege Engine Projects

Looking for a catapult kit?

Here is a great little catapult kit from Edmund Scientific made of basswood and uses the torsion of a twisted string as its power source. This thing hurls objects more than ten feet.

The Edmund Scientific Catapult Kit

Get 12% off all orders over $100 or more at Edmund Scientific use coupon code spring12 at checkout to save. Coupon does not apply to Telescopes, GPS or Cameras and is valid April 1st through April 30th.

Save 10% on purchases at ScienceKit.com with coupon code SKIT410. Valid April 1st through April 31st. Coupon does not apply to Telescopes, GPS or Cameras.

Amazon.com also has a catapult kit you can build

Working Wood Catapult Diy Kit, 6" X 5" X 10"

Expand your kingdom one cubicle at a time with this working replica of one of the most infamous and powerful siege engines... the catapult. When completed, the catapult can shoot a ball of soft clay more than 15 feet! Lay seige to your entire department with this formidable weapon and mercilessly crush cubicle uprisings. Includes all needed parts and soft modeling clay for projectiles. Requires knife and wood or white glue for assembly

What good is a catapult if you don't have a castle to attack!

I have another project you might like. It is the Paper Castle and it has everything you could want in a castle making project including all the art work you can download. You just follow the instructions and make it yourself with some glue and cereal boxes. Build a Paper and Cardboard Castle It also has a learning sheet that helps to learn about castles when you are building it.

Stormthecastle.com

Table of Contents for this tutorial

BACK TO THE CATAPULT MAIN PAGE

1. Make the Table Top Troll Catapult Home and materials requred
2. Begin assembly of the sides and base
3. Assemble the catapult firing arm
4. Complete the assemblly and finish by painting
5. Video of this catapult firing
6. Books/Medieval store
7. Free Catapult Plan

Stormthecastle.com
Castlefiction.com
Epic Fantasy.com
The Medieval Armory
THe Fantasy Guide
The Heroic Dreams Blog
The Knight Medieval
The Telescope Nerd

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