Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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MarsGlorious
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Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by MarsGlorious » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:08 am

Before I knew much about WBLs, I thought that building contraptions to fire water bombs was stupid. You can just throw water bombs. We should be using our resources to construct contraptions to fire Aqua Nukes (Balloons filled with water). Since Aqua Nukes are so heavy, they are very hard to throw, and don't go very far. The only time they were used, was when dropped from height.

I thought we needed a device that could fire them at least to average weapon range, or more.
We considered giant air-cannons, sling-shots, ballistas and even catapults. However, after Storm built PGL-Devastator (WBL), the idea was forgotten. I now think we should resurrect the idea, and see what the worldwide community thinks. Is this possible? If it is, then people could build devices that can deliver enormous payloads, and create enormous intimidation.
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aEx155
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by aEx155 » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:15 am

If you're talking about those huge water balloons that are ~2' in diameter and take two people using a towel to carry, then that's probably not going to of good use in a water fight unless you do it correctly. The fact that they weigh so much means that you have to find a way to accelerate all of that mass to a reasonable speed without breaking that balloon. Once it's up to speed an goes flying off to it's target, you're going to have to think about what it's going to do when it hits. If you reduce it's speed to the point where it isn't dangerous, then it's not going to do much for range.

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cantab
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by cantab » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:19 am

I think he's talking more about regular party balloons. They tend to be about the size of a football (soccer ball), which makes them too heavy to throw far.
An air cannon (or any type of cannon) would need a particularly large diameter barrel, so other methods might be better.

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Authundir
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by Authundir » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:56 am

@ aEx155 - NO!!!! were just talking about regular party ballons. I don't think that I know anyone that suicidal!

As for a device to hurl them (along with other projectiles) I have always been partial to the ballista, and started to build one about three hours ago.
contrary to common belief the ballista is not a giant crossbow. the crossbow uses tension in the staves to fire the missile, the ballista uses a torsion spring.
A torsion spring is a spring that works by torsion or twisting; that is, a flexible elastic object (in this case rope) that stores energy when it is twisted. The amount of force it exerts is proportional to the amount it is twisted, the more you twist the more force you get.

I am building one and will post photos when it is finished
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StormGlorious
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by StormGlorious » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:05 pm

Well, good luck with that..... What do you intend to use as the trigger mechanism. I know that the Greeks and Romans used a rope that was cut to release the string.
I certainly hope this isn't going to be a repeat of the Water Bomb Ballista that you supposedly "built" in year 7. Having said that it would be AMAZING if you actually managed it. The amount of potential energy that you would need to propel an object such as the one in question, makes me believe that this idea is simply not feasible. Any ordinary rope would break under the stress required.
Personally I would stick to a large homemade if you want to deliver a massive payload.

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Drenchenator
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by Drenchenator » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:28 pm

I think a large water balloon launcher is possible, but not using conventional pneumatics. I don't know exactly how wide the water balloons we're talking about are, but they are likely too large for use in a PVC barrel.

A large slingshot (I mean large) could work nicely . I'm thinking of one that you could stake into the ground to set up and have a team fire it. I don't really know if that would be feasible; you would need a lot of strong elastic cord, which you may or may not be able to get.

The other route is a launcher with an air like a ballista or catapult. I guess if you choose to build one there would be a lot more to do, including designing the thing because they can get awfully complicated at times.
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sbell25
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by sbell25 » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:49 pm

Well as others have said, the air cannon idea is out. In addition to the massive barrel and chamber you'd need, the recoil that such a gun would produce would likely knock you off your feet.

As for a catapult style launcher, while it could work it would be very impractical. By the time you've fired, the enemy could easily run the 5 metres or so to escape it's blast radius.

I do remember once using my WBL with just water down the barrel. It was pretty effective, people either ran away or got completely soaked with a nice big shotgun blast. Just remember to test the ideal pressure and water payload beforehand, because the recoil can be huge! Either that, or a large homemade like Storm suggested would be your best bet.

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Silence
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by Silence » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:48 pm

You need to accelerate the balloon fairly slow over a long distance. Any method will work, but scaled up. That is hard.

A regular 12" balloon would work, although I wouldn't fill it beyond 6". Even 3" water balloon launchers are large, and you may be able to get away with a small launcher if you're willing to sacrifice some range.

Remember balloons don't actually fire the water to the sides. It kinda just keeps going forward into the target as the balloon pops.

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cantab
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by cantab » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:09 pm

Will you get more of an area blast effect if you use a very high angle fire (ie like a mortar)?
Though many designs will struggle to obtain such high angles; eg a catapult would require much larger supports, which would be under tremendous stress .It's easy for an air cannon, but we've established they'll struggle with larger balloons.

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StormGlorious
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by StormGlorious » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:15 pm

I think that we need to determine which method of propulsion is going to be best.

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MarsGlorious
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by MarsGlorious » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:50 pm

Well, actually I think we're getting the size of the balloons wrong. Consider the size of a fully filled balloon, then divide it by 3. That's the standard size of a Aqua Nuke. It's way too difficult to fill the balloon any further.

What I was thinking was that build a sling-shot/ballista. Torsion seems to old fashioned and complicated. Buy 4 strands of elastic rope, and mount it on a frame like a ballista. Seems quite logical. I never said this was going to be easy. Making it will be hard enough, designing to be battle practical (to some degree) is going to be a real challenge. However, I think just building it will do.
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SSCBen
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by SSCBen » Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:48 am

Sounds interesting. When I was in Boy Scouts we had a few campouts with prominent water balloon catapults or slingshots. One court of honor we had was at Gathland State Park and some sort of giant slingshot launched water balloons very high in the air like a mortar (it was set up right in front of this building). The kids loved it and they caught the balloons (if you were lucky--it took the right technique) or let them break on themselves. Having taken a few to the head and chest I can tell you that they do hurt.

I think a scaled up slingshot would work great. With a slingshot it'd be easier to adjust the trajectory than a catapult, one person can operate it, the ROF would be greatly improved over air pressure weapons or siege engines.

The accuracy was terrible though and I don't think a larger balloon would be very effective. Some sort of "shotgun mortar" would be most effective in my opinion. Shoot 10 or more normal water balloons off with reasonable accuracy and you should hit your target if not scare them. Balloons falling from the sky can be very intimidating if you don't know where they're coming from.

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StormGlorious
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by StormGlorious » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:37 am

As Authundir said, it is not a ballista if it does not use torsion wheels. I think that this idea is ridiculous.

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Drenchenator
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by Drenchenator » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:12 am

A slingshot would be the easiest to use and build. It also would be very easy to pick the power level with the right kind of elastic materials. If you want to pursue this option, look around. You may be able to find latex rubber tubing locally in small sizes (it should be the yellow stuff, not what we use for CPS).
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StormGlorious
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Re: Aqua Nuke Launcher - "Big Balloons"

Post by StormGlorious » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:11 am

The yellow stuff is stocked under the name Surgical Tubing, at least in Australia. You would need rather a lot of it to propel something the size of an Aqua-Nuke.

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