MindWare Contraptions Catapult

My son (9) and I built this. It is simple to follow, many steps and a good project for that age. It requires a bit of adult help in explaining lining a few things up, but over all, very easy and who doesn't love to launch things.

Overall this is a not a terrible kit. However, although there has been some care taken in the creation of the directions, they are not going to allow the average user to be 100 percent successful. And there are some issues with parts. There is a big sheet of directions meant to look somewhat like "blueprints" and it's a good start. They are clear about how to assemble the smaller sub-assemblies needed before putting those together to make the final product- and the drawings are pretty clear. However, when you get to the end and are trying to assemble the whole thing you realize that small errors made along the way make the final product "iffy". The manufacturer needs another round of real-world testing and editing of the directions. That being said, here's my advice for success. (I say this as a carpenter AND architect)Use your own wood glue, like a good yellow carpenters glue.You will need some spring clamps. Jorgensen "Pony" clamps, with the orange rubbery tips, are perfect. (they are like giant clothespins). A couple "small" and a couple of "medium" one will be fine. Check your local hardware store if you don't have these. You really cannot adequately glue up the "sticks" without clamps. We assembled two or three "stick" assemblies with glue and clamps, and left them to dry overnight. If you had a lot more clamps you could do more work in each session. As it was, it took us about 6 sessions. They don't say anything about clamping of course, but there's no way to ensure that the pieces remain tight and aligned while the glue sets up if you do not have clamps.In Step 6, make user that the "upright supports" are perpendicular to the base. Use a square if necessary. Make sure that the holes at the top of the "upright supports" are level with each other! This is where small variations in the length of various sticks you made in the first steps can become problematic.When you get to Step 8 you are assembling the "sticks" you put together before into the final assembly. If you do not get this right, the holes for the central "axle" will not align and the whole thing won't work. I advise when you are assembling everything in Step 8, you put the "medium bamboo shaft" through all the holes (the two support holes and the two holes on the "sling arm"...and make sure the thing is all aligned and the shaft is level BEFORE you glue up the components. You can glue up the parts, clamp everything, and then adjust the parts while the glue is still wet so everything is just right- then allow the glue to dry. Pay attention the the 1 3/4" to 2" spacing required BETWEEN the "upright supports" in Step 8. (More on that later) When assembling/gluing the "uprights" onto "horizontal base beams", assemble on a flat table and use some bricks or books to apply downward weight on each side. Clamps won't work well for that particular step of the process.Lastly, and this is frustrating, the "medium bamboo shaft" and "long bamboo shaft" are too small. If you follow the directions carefully (including that 1 3/4"-2" dimension I mentioned before), the sticks will not be long enough and then you're really out of luck. I would actually recommend using a dimension of 1 1/4" BETWEEN the upright supports- otherwise your shafts will be too short. We are heading out to the hardware store to find some replacement dowels or nuts and bolts. We ended up using the long one where the medium one was supposed to go and need to have a new "long" one.Also, there are supposed to be two elastic bands to power the catapult. One is long, the other is tiny. No good. They both have to be the same size so again, the manufacturer messed up. If you have two different sized bands, you'll need to go hunt down a matching pair. The "rubber washers" do not hold the shafts in place the way they are supposed to; they just don't work. We glued in the elastic band "small shaft" and the central axle (medium shaft). Again, frustrating due to manufacturer's lack of attention to detail.And pay attention to where the holes are supposed to be on the various sticks when you are making the sub-assemblies. it's easy to get one or two backwards.If you have no experience working with wood, glue, clamps or a tape measure, you might be challenged by this. Most kids will need help of an adult. Many adults will need the help of another adult! Plan on this being an extrapolated process and an exercise in delaying of gratification! Have fun!Will post more feedback when we see how it shoots and how it holds up after play.UPDATE: The unit works pretty well now. No issues after a couple of hours of play. I'm glad we used good wood glue and clamped this up when we were gluing because the frame does take some stress when firing. Someone (an adult) has to hold it down to the floor while the child "loads and fires"...otherwise it just tips over. We might get a heavy wood base (perhaps two layers of 3/4" plywood) and make a base for this to bolt to. I would think something about 1'6" x 2'-6" would stabilize the unit pretty well.One last note: The enclosed "bean bags" don't shoot all that well. We used ping pong balls and they fit into the cup nicely.

My son has enjoyed the Keva products and this one does not disappoint. I've had tiny beanbags launched at me all morning! At 8 years old, he was able to assemble this kit mostly on his own with very minimal assistance. He liked the blueprint format for the instructions and the target provided. I would suggest that an adult check on the blueprint steps before the child moves on to the next one. Some minor adjustments were needed to his placement of some of the planks and it is much easier to correct errors before the glue dries. While the glue provided is fine, they don't give you enough for a child-builder. We ended up using our own wood glue to supplement the supply. It helped to have some wet wipes or paper-towels on hand to remove the excess. My son has also built the trebuchet from Keva and the kids are planning to compare the projectile distance.

My nine-year-old daughter just loves this catapult. She's enjoyed making hypotheses about how far different objects will travel, aiming it at the target provided, & knocking down towers made out of Jenga blocks. The kit comes with a "blueprint" for assembly instructions, which she thought was cool, & I think constructing the catapult was almost as much fun for her as playing with it.It was easy for the two of us to assemble the catapult; it took us around an hour, not including time for the glue to set. A couple of notes about assembly - I'd recommend using a hot glue gun rather than the wood glue provided, as it seemed to hold better. Also, the instructions show a "flight deck" made from one plain block, but the photo on the front of the box shows 4 plain blocks, which was what we ended up using.It won't last forever, but it's a fun way to learn a bit about physics. We'll be buying the trebuchet kit soon.

I would have given this 5 stars if the washers weren't completely useless. But they are. They do not hold the dowels in place, they fall off immediately without any stress placed on them. One wonders why they're included at all. So the question becomes, are the dowels too thin or are the washers too big? Who knows.What I do know is that this kit will be useless until I modify it at my own time and expense. Since there are multiple pre-existing complaints from previous customers, and the manufacturer has not bothered to correct the problem... one star.

Bought this for my son's science project and was completely satisfied with it. The science project went well, and now it is a fun toy for my eight-year-old. It also looks nice on his book case. Because it had to be assembled before it could be used, it was also a good Saturday project for my son and husband to build together.

This catapult kit was purchased as part of a project for a 5th grade gifted student. Assembling was not too difficult, given the diagrams and directions. A little guidance was needed for precision in measurement and placement of planks. Overall, appropriate challenge for a 10-11 year old.Pros:-Relatively easy to build and use-rubber bands were strong and allowed for good distanceCons:-When catapult was put to use, after about the 10th use, one of the wood planks of the upright support connected to the horizontal base beam BROKE. It did not just come unglued; the wood itself splintered and broke. We re-glued, but only got a few more launches before the upright support came apart again.-the washers did not hold the bamboo shafts in place whatsoever! Continually had to readjust.-small tube of glue; could have used a bit more