

Other materials were, one piece of “Bender Board” a strip of MDF ¼ thick and 4” wide sold in 10 foot lengths at home centers, also one piece of PVC pipe ¾ in OD thickness, and about as long as the crossbow. Besides, the templates can be modified to suit the builder as crossbows were sized and shaped according the intended use and user. This simplifies things and people can copy the design more accurately. The shape was drawn in SolidWorks and some PDF templates were generated. I used a piece of hard pine that was actually a 2X4 clean, and fairly free of knots or defects. Some nice designs and figuring can be obtained that way. Alternately it can be made of layers of wood or plywood glued together. Ideally some hard wood was used for the Body of the Crossbow sometimes called the “Tiller”. With a little planning ahead actually it can be made for free as all the materials for all the parts and pieces can be scavenged frequently from the scrap bins. With an elevation angle of up to 60 degrees and 12 propellant loads to choose from, the B-4 virtually met all the expectations it was given, capable of crushing its targets via an optimal projectile trajectory.Although materials were provided, anybody can build this project for about $10. The heavy recoil from the muzzle blast threw the crew off their seats and damaged the transmission, and so it was cancelled. In the spring of 1944, a KV-1S tank chassis was used to create a self-propelled variant, the S-51. This weapon was used until the end of the war in the Battle of Berlin where the Red Army would bring these guns up at point blank range to smash German fortifications with their heavy 203mm shells. These guns were used with success against Finnish pillboxes at the Mannerheim Line, heavy German fortifications and in urban combat for destroying protected buildings and bunkers. It was nicknamed "Stalin's sledgehammer" by German soldiers. During the Second World War, it was under the command of the Stavka's strategic reserve. (Б-4), GRAU index 52-G-625) was a 203 mm (8 inch) Soviet high-power heavy howitzer. This is a highly detailed 3D model of a Russian 203 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4) modelled by 3D fortress, prepared and distributed under license by Digital TaxidermyĢ03 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4) (Russian: 203-мм гаубица обр.
