The Twin Cities Siege Engines project started out as our first group project as a joke on our forums when someone suggested building a catapult based on the iconic Minneapolis sculpture “Spoonbridge and Cherry.” From this was born the “Spoon-a-pult.” The “Foshay-buchet” has been undertaken and will receive its first test at the Science Museum of Minnesota's Make:Day 2011. The third project is tentatively titled the “Ballistica of St. Mary,” and is planned for construction in 2012.

The torsion catapult “Spoon-a-pult” is a scale model of the sculpture which inspired it, and constructed in metis' garage as we did not yet have a home. It was intended to be displayed at the Science Museum of Minnesota's inaugural Make:Day exhibition, however we were unable to get it approved in time. After a successful day of volunteering at the museum, we retired to nearby Raspberry Island and proceeded to fling plush cherries about 30 feet even after the spoon failed in somewhat catastrophic fashion. A second, more robust spoon was built in the Hack Factory, and successfully exhibited at Make:Day 2010. It experienced some metal failures but was repaired in situ by our lovely friends as the Chicago Avenue Center for Fire Arts. It now resides atop the office in the Hack Factory. Participating members included (in no particular order) nicklee, hootenanny, metis, theo, idris_arslanian, videoman, noise, and a few folks I'm forgetting. It will be back at Make:Day 2011 in slightly abused shape to demonstrate how much force these sorts of weapons can generate, even in a small package.

The trebuchet “Foshay-buchet” is an architectural model of the iconic Foshay Tower, and was built primarily by orkraider for Twin Cities Maker's Minne Maker Faire II, and completed in time for Make:Day 2011. Able to throw water balloons a good bit farther than the Spoon-a-pult in early tests, we're excited to see how it performs.

The ballista will be an exciting build, that we're hoping doesn't take anyone's eye out.