Old build revisited

Some of you may remember this one from a while back:



It's getting a facelift:



Literally!


Gnome

Very artistic! What is going on at the other end?

Todd

Well Todd, my original design was all about looks and ideas, and, as you might have guessed, did not prove very practical after some time spent handling the weapon. The first thing that had to go was that elongated, exaggerated shoulder stock. Usually I try to leave things alone, learn my lesson and put whatever I've learned into my next build, but this one was really awkward, no fun at all, so one day I got crazy with the jigsaw and just started cutting. It shoulders so much nicer now it's like night and day.
So then I realized there was too much wood up front, too, but instead of the jigsaw I reached for my files and Dremel and just let whatever was in the wood out. Pretty pleased so far, it's been awhile since I freehand carved anything. I'll need to add something decorative to the tail end now, too- nothing too elaborate, just enough to balance it out.
Gnome

Finally got this one back together and calling it done.

This was the 2nd crossbow I built, really a testbed for different ideas I wanted to try out. Luckily some of them worked. Some didn't, like the scope. This red dot sight makes me wonder if I'll ever build a weapon without a picatinny rail again. Most of the stock has been reshaped, the pistol grip is now actually comfortable. I restored the center of gravity by embedding a half-inch steel rod in the tail end to compensate for the shoulder-stock wood I removed. It became very natural to place my off-hand on the trigger-hand guard, since that's where the c.o.g. is now, so I padded and wrapped it.
One of the detours I took is obviously the carving. I refinished most of the stock with a couple layers of black laquer, and faux-painted the sculpted bits with enamel paint to look like beat up old copper. If you've done any carving or figure painting you know that eyes are difficult, same story here. So I gave her a pair of shades with a couple copper tacks and a hammered and filed bit of thick copper wire. 

For all it's overcomplications and strange mish-mash design, this one is very comfortable to shoot and accurate, and I learned a lot working on it. Geezer's right about bullpup crossbows, though. It does make me a bit nervous having my face that close to the action.
Gnome

Wow !

Chaz