What's next ... vacation!

Ladies and gentlemen,

as I will be going on vacation - yesss, the first proper one since pandemic - I thought I share with you my vision of what I plan to do once I come back again!

I have a couple of themes I am working on and one is a armory/barracks building. For that I obviously need armor and weapons! So I started working on weapon racks and archery targets and am sharing where I am at with them now. They are not finished but give a good impression of what I want to do. 

For the weapon racks I want to add one with axes and one with shields. And also an empty one for free customization. These racks are 2D base standup parts (like paperminis) for now but I will add a side part to make it a stand alone assembly if wanted. I also made a couple of texturing variations like a filled easy cutout one and one where you can cutout all the weapon contours for a nice look.

The archery target has three options of what the actual target area can look like, ranging from naked straw face to cloth covered bullseye. I went for a more sturdy frame and not the tripod that I have often seen. If you want you can bash the tripod out of three of the A-frames and a customized front part!

All of these will come out as bits but will also be part of an upcoming armory/barracks building.

For the building that I have in mind I am not sure if it will be one or two levels. I think a lower level armory and upper level barracks combo could be really nice. Or it could be a 2 storey armory or barracks only version. I can also see a reskin version as a prison (lower level prison cells, upper level sheriff/guard quarters). Just more options :)

This might be the start of a road leading up to a full castle in the far future with watchtowers and outposts on the road (and maybe some siege bits!).

What else am I working on. I have started a Viking knarr (smaller trading) boat. It has a more rounded shape and the middle section is recessed for storing the transport goods. This geometry check build shows where the raised front and back deck would be.

In regards to size/length, here is a screen shot showing it in comparison to the longship.

It will be much shorter in length but almost as wide so we have enough space for mini action on deck! I also want to make a faering (smaller rowing boat) to complete this series.

The third thing I want to do is go back to the desert village/fortress series (which might lead to a crossover with the tribal series). To start with I have talked in the discord and we came up with a smaller gladiators fighting pit set. Something like a mini colosseum. This is in a very early stage but I hope to share some sketches once I get back.

As you can see, the to-do-list is full and long :) 

I am looking forward to my vacation as my private life has been riddled with a water damage in the appartement which was a little shock and took me some time to adjust and also my girlfriends father who needs being taken care. For the later I have started to setup a second work place in that location so I can switch easy and stay productive. So I really need a little time to recharge my batteries :) 

I will be away a little over 2 weeks. We have been invited to a friends house (God bless them as we cannot afford much more these days) on a small Greek island. From what I have heard it's simple but a lovely place. Looking forward to sleep, eat and let my mind rest for a while ... although the sketchbook is packed so I can record all my creative juices once they get flowing :D

But ... as much as I am looking forward to this break I also am very excited about the things I will be doing when I get back. So that's all my news for now. See you soon and until the next time, stay safe and keep building!

Chris