Artillery Test on Harzhorn Battlefield (235 AD)

[P. Clodius Secundus]

Meanwhile - pardon my ignorance, but what's this extraordinary-looking machine based on?

That's the large iron kamarion ("arched strut") from Orsova, designed to hold the twin kambestria ("field-frames") apart. All the wooden components are conjectural (I cannot speak for this particular reconstruction, but the components are usually based on scaling up the instructions in the Cheiroballistra text, which describes a small weapon). The size (width) of the kamarion suggests that it belonged to an "inswinger" (not as reconstructed here, which seems to have bow-arms protruding to the sides).

Duncan, it looks to me like you weren't the only one hitting the bottle recently. The design team on this one must have gotten into some good schnapps! They've taken the case and slider from an inswinger and mated it to an Orsova frame used as an outswinger. Just to liven things up they've added a Vitruvian base and possibly the most ridiculously huge hexagonal winch drums I've ever seen. At least they didn't even try to dream up some bronze adapters to angle the frames and give it a decent draw length. Could someone please enlighten me as to where people keep finding evidence to justify hinging the rear stay down from the case?
Call me picky if you like, but if the object was to test weapons that would have been at the battle in 235AD, why do we still see wooden-framed scorpions that are only evidenced up to the first century and fixed-handle winches and saw-toothed ratchets that went out with the Greeks?