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Archery for Writers and Artists Part 1

Archery for Writers and Artists Part 1 2019-01-03

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kobaltkween

Brilliant
Contributing Artist
I was more just generally interested in the design. The character I have in my head who needs a bow is sort of a wood elf, so the idea was interesting to me. I don't think my version of the concept would look but so similar, though, so I'm reluctant to guarantee you'd be interested in it. I'd probably make it more stylized, because to me it looks like it would snap in two immediately. Which somehow wasn't what I was quite expecting. Though again, it gives me lots of ideas, and I've bookmarked it for reference.

Also, just to warn, I have _so_ much to do before I get to it. My first character needs hair, clothes, and props. Then I can get to my second character's hair, clothes, and props. And in between their stuff, I'm thinking I'll make more utilitarian stuff. Like right now, I'm working on the first part of a photo/dance studio.

Right now, I'm almost exclusively a Poser creator. I was pretty happy with the DS version of my tiara set, but I still have _tons_ to learn about DS. I definitely plan on trying to get into DS more in the near future. That said, all the reasons I don't use DS still exist except for rendering, and while I _love_ Iray in so very many ways, its SSS is as hard to work with as Luxrender's for heterogenous solids (though great for things like glass, plastic, and water) and I love skin. I'm just not entirely confident in my ability to push myself in DS when I'm already pushing myself to teach myself to make hair, hard surface model, and sculpt and paint characters.
 

Hornet3d

Wise
Sometime in the distant past three was a bow that was modelled as a single branch and still had ivy growing from parts of it which I think would make a great elf bow. Sadly I can't remember where I saw it and it doesn't look as I ever purchased it.

The other type of bow I like to use is a cross bow as, like the normal bows, work well in many guises such has historical, fantasy and even futuristic. Nice device when you want to introduce a silent killing machine into a story line.
 

HaiGan

Energetic
Contributing Artist
That is a cool looking bow, but would it actually work? Seems the short branches bound to the longer branches would cause problems.

In real life I think it would be hard to get it to a usable state and it would likely not be very robust. The other half has a very rustic yew bow that still has the knobbles from side branches (though no side branches still sticking out), plus bindings to discourage a tendency to split at those places. It does still work as a bow, but it has a very low draw weight (40 lbs or so). It is mostly retired now because it is slowly disintegrating: the places where the wood grain is not continuous are weaker than the surrounding wood and the fibres tend to pull apart when the bow is used (which places one side under tension and the other in compression). If you have a fantasy and/or magical setting you could use magical wood or something to eliminate that flaw.

Interesting discussions, everyone, thank you!
 

carmen indorato

Extraordinary
That is a cool looking bow, but would it actually work? Seems the short branches bound to the longer branches would cause problems.

Yeah in the real world dear but in the Poser-verse where fantasy abounds and no real figures are hurt in the pursuit of "pictchas", it doesn't really need to work to be used in the visual. LOL
Just looking cool is what it is all about. And that bow set is cool.
My mom God bless her, when she lived among us, always said:
"Who looks quickly will not really notice (the short comings of) the details".
 

carmen indorato

Extraordinary
In real life I think it would be hard to get it to a usable state and it would likely not be very robust. The other half has a very rustic yew bow that still has the knobbles from side branches (though no side branches still sticking out), plus bindings to discourage a tendency to split at those places. It does still work as a bow, but it has a very low draw weight (40 lbs or so). It is mostly retired now because it is slowly disintegrating: the places where the wood grain is not continuous are weaker than the surrounding wood and the fibres tend to pull apart when the bow is used (which places one side under tension and the other in compression). If you have a fantasy and/or magical setting you could use magical wood or something to eliminate that flaw.

Interesting discussions, everyone, thank you!

Interesting indeed. Seems you have been doing your due diligence in bow construction. Osage orange?
 

carmen indorato

Extraordinary
Sometime in the distant past three was a bow that was modelled as a single branch and still had ivy growing from parts of it which I think would make a great elf bow. Sadly I can't remember where I saw it and it doesn't look as I ever purchased it.

The other type of bow I like to use is a cross bow as, like the normal bows, work well in many guises such has historical, fantasy and even futuristic. Nice device when you want to introduce a silent killing machine into a story line.
I recall that but like you not sure where from.
A cross bow is great but relatively new feat of engineering and would not have been good for ALL bow image uses.
Different weapons for different stories. Gotta have choice to be selective. I wish I know how to create my own stuff.
This is a fantasy bow for use with fantasy creatures or humanoids, Elves, fairies, Wood Gods, Sabatic Goats, Fawns and Satyrs, Woods Centaurs, Nature Maidens, woodsmen living in close congress with their world, etc.

But gotta remember before humans learned the ins and out of complex bow construction and the complexities of grain and stress factors and....and..... all they did was get a fairly green flexy branch tied a length of sinew to it and used it to throw a small sharp object at a distance or with perhaps more penetrating strength, later known as spear or arrow, to maximize safety and efficiency in a hunt or battle. Bow constructions has come a long way since then....as have fantasies! LOL
 

HaiGan

Energetic
Contributing Artist
Not osage orange, yew, but British-grown. To get long straight lengths without side branches, I have been told that mainland European yew is better (and historically was so important that import taxes on wine would be charged in staves of yew). There is yew in Britain, often associated with graveyards, but it tends to be somewhat stunted with twisted branches and lots of side branching- so lengths suitable for bowmaking are harder to find.
 

Hornet3d

Wise
I recall that but like you not sure where from.
A cross bow is great but relatively new feat of engineering and would not have been good for ALL bow image uses.
Different weapons for different stories. Gotta have choice to be selective. I wish I know how to create my own stuff.
This is a fantasy bow for use with fantasy creatures or humanoids, Elves, fairies, Wood Gods, Sabatic Goats, Fawns and Satyrs, Woods Centaurs, Nature Maidens, woodsmen living in close congress with their world, etc.

But gotta remember before humans learned the ins and out of complex bow construction and the complexities of grain and stress factors and....and..... all they did was get a fairly green flexy branch tied a length of sinew to it and used it to throw a small sharp object at a distance or with perhaps more penetrating strength, later known as spear or arrow, to maximise safety and efficiency in a hunt or battle. Bow constructions has come a long way since then....as have fantasies! LOL

Much as I like the cross bow you are certainly right that the uses would be more limited than the bow described here. I cannot see it fitting into the elf type story with ease with the cross bow not only being a recent development but also not having the environmental credentials of the cross bow. It does have more potential in the modern day and sci-fi story particularly if you think of adding explosive or electronic tipped arrows.
 

carmen indorato

Extraordinary
Not osage orange, yew, but British-grown. To get long straight lengths without side branches, I have been told that mainland European yew is better (and historically was so important that import taxes on wine would be charged in staves of yew). There is yew in Britain, often associated with graveyards, but it tends to be somewhat stunted with twisted branches and lots of side branching- so lengths suitable for bowmaking are harder to find.
Cool bit of info but the Yew was not in Africa, or Asia or the Americas that I know of. In the Americas, especially the plains, it was Osage Orange to my knowledge that was used for bow making. I am sure there were other good wood types overall the rest of the world but not sure wht they would have been. I think the European Long bow was as you said in respect of the rest of the bows LOOOOONG historical use, also a relatively contemporary construct.Yes well known as having been made of yew wood. What was the comparably long and deadly Japanese bow made of I wonder...and what was it mad of before its development?
 

carmen indorato

Extraordinary
In real life I think it would be hard to get it to a usable state and it would likely not be very robust. The other half has a very rustic yew bow that still has the knobbles from side branches (though no side branches still sticking out), plus bindings to discourage a tendency to split at those places. It does still work as a bow, but it has a very low draw weight (40 lbs or so). It is mostly retired now because it is slowly disintegrating: the places where the wood grain is not continuous are weaker than the surrounding wood and the fibres tend to pull apart when the bow is used (which places one side under tension and the other in compression). If you have a fantasy and/or magical setting you could use magical wood or something to eliminate that flaw.

Interesting discussions, everyone, thank you!

Also HaiGan 40 pounds of draft strength is a lot of power by any standards especially for older bows waaaaay back in history. Contemporary constructs might exceed that for sure but that would be comparing real macintosh apples to fantasy crab apples. I had a 30 pound fibreglas recurve and it was pretty powerful and not so easy to draw as one might think especially to hold drawn before ultimately releasing the shaft. It was pretty accurate and deadly sending a wood shaft arrow with target point across a football field distance.
 

HaiGan

Energetic
Contributing Artist
40 pounds of draft strength is a lot of power by any standards especially for older bows waaaaay back in history

Estimated draw weight on longbows recovered from the Mary Rose (sunk in 1545) went up to 185 lbs. I can't find it at the moment but I also have the figures from someone's estimate of the draw weights of a variety of Native American bows based on reconstructions; I seem to recall 60 lbs being typical but don't quote me on it, I need to find the source.

20-40 lbs is considered low in battle recreation groups here, who will use bows of this strength against live human targets, albeit armoured and alert targets while using flu-flu blunts (extra-large fletchings to slow the flight and large rubber heads, and the units getting shot at would have a designated spotter to call out whenever arrows were incoming so shields could be brought ready). The arrows will still take the skin off your ankle if they skim the ground, come back up and hit the join between boot top and leg armour. Astounding how often that happens. One idiot- not a member of any group I was involved with- fitted a rubber blunt on over a complete arrow instead of a blank shaft and ended up putting the metal head through the end of the rubber blunt and then on through someone's ankle, so at that draw weight the bow can still be perfectly effective. Recollecting battle recreation use of bows, the other thing that tends to happen way more often than one might expect is that an arrow hits right at the top of the front split in a mail shirt. Sensible participants with male anatomy wear a cricket box.
 

carmen indorato

Extraordinary
Estimated draw weight on longbows recovered from the Mary Rose (sunk in 1545) went up to 185 lbs. I can't find it at the moment but I also have the figures from someone's estimate of the draw weights of a variety of Native American bows based on reconstructions; I seem to recall 60 lbs being typical but don't quote me on it, I need to find the source.

20-40 lbs is considered low in battle recreation groups here, who will use bows of this strength against live human targets, albeit armoured and alert targets while using flu-flu blunts (extra-large fletchings to slow the flight and large rubber heads, and the units getting shot at would have a designated spotter to call out whenever arrows were incoming so shields could be brought ready). The arrows will still take the skin off your ankle if they skim the ground, come back up and hit the join between boot top and leg armour. Astounding how often that happens. One idiot- not a member of any group I was involved with- fitted a rubber blunt on over a complete arrow instead of a blank shaft and ended up putting the metal head through the end of the rubber blunt and then on through someone's ankle, so at that draw weight the bow can still be perfectly effective. Recollecting battle recreation use of bows, the other thing that tends to happen way more often than one might expect is that an arrow hits right at the top of the front split in a mail shirt. Sensible participants with male anatomy wear a cricket box.

Great Hai!
Good to get the extra info. Despite having shot a lot of different bows including a real heavy cross bow, I was apparently not as knowledgeable as you it seems. I now consider myself properly learned. :)
Though I still submit that within the total history of the bow ( an estimated 20,000 years according to the info I found) as a general weapon or hunting tool those bows you mentioned were also relatively contemporary. Their function for those time periods were developed or enhanced to deal with the armors and distances of the time. I really doubt the older early man, early native American, prehistoric or African users would have had the same power requirements. It was those much earlier bows I was referring to.

Oh and BTW no need to go searching for more info on this I am sure you have better stuff to do dear. THANKS!
 
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robert952

Brilliant
If you have a fantasy and/or magical setting you could use magical wood or something to eliminate that flaw.

Interesting discussions, everyone, thank you!

Also, in a story line where the hero escaped prison and needs to fashion a make-shift weapon to last long enough to knock down a foe to get a better weapon.

Yes, this has been interesting thread to follow. Thanks to all who took time to contribute.
 

Red Eagle

Member
Just found this, and it's great. I have done some alpha and beta testing over the years and have come across a number of poses and incorrect uses of the bow and arrow. I always try to get the developer to correct it but it is up to them. Again, great work.
 
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