Apparently to make a crossbow modern you just have to give it a sciency name. Still waiting for a Photon Cannon.

“Ye Atom Smasher”… A Modern Crossbow

By George F. Snell Jr.

FOR the dub archer, hopelessly infected with the romance of medieval weapons, a crossbow should be the answer. A sporting crossbow is easier to make than a really good long bow and is much less difficult to shoot accurately. The cost should not exceed four or five dollars.

The power of a crossbow like the one illustrated is invariably a surprise to those not familiar with archery. In one test it shot a bolt (arrow) not only through a thick telephone directory, but also through a 3/32″ piece of sheet steel used to back it up! Such a powerful weapon must always be used with the utmost caution.

Moods of Cone Bird Tell Weather

MADE from a pine cone, and mounted on a pair of stilts carved to resemble legs, this odd little weather bird will tell you just what kind of weather is in the offing. When fair weather is due, the bird will bristle up as if it were angry, but when a storm is somewhere near, it will quiet down and smooth out its scales. A realistic head should be carved and glued to the end of the cone. Hot dry air causes the leaves to ruffle up; stormy air causes them to settle.

Plans for Making a Racing Razor Blade Iceboat

By T. S. ASGAARD

RAZOR blades, box wood, and an old flour sack are the materials used in building this simple, fast and sure sailing iceboat. Balanced so that she will sail herself in all winds not strong enough to tip her, it will be found that this style boat is the answer to those boys who have often tried to make a workable miniature iceboat, only to find that the balance was wrong, that the thing was too heavy, or that it would not steer.

Ride This Ice Merry-Go-Round for Thrills

by DALE R. VAN HORN

Speed is the chief source of thrills in winter sports. If you can lay hands on an old two-horsepower gas engine, you can construct this novel Ice Merry-Go-Round and get a real thrill as it whizzes you at top speed in circles around the ice.