Ancient Engineering SeriesMANGONEL.com
Ballistic Technologies of Antiquity
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The Stirling Warwolf Kit in Red Oak

Cut from solid Red Oak!


Designed and made in the USA for
better quality, better performance!


This version of the kit is cut from high quality Red Oak instead of the whitewood (Poplar) used in the other version of this item.

During a siege of Stirling Castle in 1304, Edward Longshanks (Edward the first, King of England) ordered his engineers to make a giant trebuchet for the English army, named "Warwolf".

With one blow, Warwolf leveled a section of wall, successfully concluding the siege of Stirling Castle. The Stirling Warwolf is generally thought of as the most powerful and most famous of the trebuchets in history.

With an historically accurate "squirrel-cage" winch mechanism, block-trolley system and working trigger, frame-ladder (for re-cocking), half-lap and mortise and tenon joinery, this is the most highly detailed and historically accurate trebuchet kit you can get. This kit has well over 140 pieces in it, plus two true scale-sized medieval warrior figures. At 1/20th scale, this machine stands 18 inches tall at the apex. The arm reaches to a height of 32 inches, and hurls its projectiles 40 to 60 feet! At 1/20 scale, that's about 800 to 1200 feet for a life-sized model. Even the projectiles (included) are scaled properly to represent 100 lb. and 350 lb. missiles.

Highly detailed and computer cut for accuracy, this model is a joy to build. The detailed instructions are complete with diagrams, photos, tuning tips and even historical notes about trebuchets.

Tools you will need include glue, a flat file and a 1/4" round or rat-tail file, clamps or rubber bands, household scissors and sandpaper to smooth any rough edges (there shouldn't be many.) The only other things you'll need to supply are a few hours of time, a little effort and some pennies for the counterweight bucket.

The kit is made from high-quality Red Oak. It can easily be stained any color, but simple exposure to sunlight will turn the natural wood a rich reddish hue over time.

We've put a lot of time and effort into making this kit as easy and complete as possible. We hope you'll enjoy building and shooting it as much as we have!


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    Price: $229.00
    Minimum age: 12
    Availability: out of stock

    Item code: 10202

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Interesting Notes

What is a Mangonel?


The term "mangonel" literlally means "engine of war." It is a ballistic device, usually some type of artillery. In other words, a catapult. But "catapult" is a more general word that includes a broad range of things that use mechanical means to shoot a projectile, including slingshots and aircraft carrier launch systems. So a mangonel is a unique type of catapult.

The word Mangonel derives from the ancient Greek word "Manganon", literally meaning "engine of war". The Romans called it a Manganum. In pre-medieval French the word Manganum was changed to Manganeau, and the English changed that to Mangonel in the 1300s.

The history gets a little sketchy in the middle ages, but some historians believe that "mangonel" was shortened to the word "gonnel" about the same time that cannons were being developed, and later still, "gonnel" was shortened to "gun." And to this day, in the military a gun is strictly big artillery. (Rifles and pistols are referred to as "weapons", NOT "guns".)

The three most common types of ancient mangonels are the Greek Ballista, The Roman Onager, and the Trebuchet.

In France, the word Mangonel is used for a Trebuchet that uses a fixed counterweight for power. (The other kind of trebuchet, the hanging counterweight type, is called a "Trebuchet". Go figure!)

The English use the term Mangonel and Onager interchangeably for the Roman single-arm torsion machine.

The Greek catapult, probably the first machine to be called a mangonel, was also known as the Ballista and is where we get the word "ballistic".