TWF-04 - BENAN WATCHTOWER

[Brandlin]

Announcing that today i started design work on potentially the third kit in the series... (whilst waiting for both production kits and prototypes to come back from fenris).

THE WATCHTOWER

Design intent:

• A 2 (or maybe 3) storey building (pryn-gul tower is 4).
• Defensible ground floor entrance, no ground floor windows.
• A full height Butress to one side where the building may either form an abutment to a section of fortification wall (yet to be designed) or could meet one end of a bridge Tew-Fah, or stand alone and simply look like reinforcement.
• A flat roof with encircling railing.
• A raised covered watch platform of hexagonal or octagonal design.

I'm undecided whether to use a cylindrical object to base this on or a more conical one. I am erring for conical as I think that gives a more 'squat' appearance which would look good as a fortified building.

Once I have fleshed out the main design then I shall see if i can squeeze a signalling 'clacks' device on the top f the watchtower roof to act as an alarm signal.

comments etc welcome.

EDIT:  have just discovered that a 500ml Ben and Jerry's ice cream tub is EXACTLY half the ehight of a pringles tube, and therefore perfect to meet the other end of the Tew-Fah bridge...  so, Bennan Watchtower it is!

[Brandlin]

shhh dont tell anyone i showed you this initial sketch or they'll all want to know "how much will it be?" "when will it be finished?" and "can i have one in pink?" all those awkward questions.

long way to go... beam work on the tub, optional end rail. slaes or some other cladding on the roof structure, hatchway etc etc..

what do you think?

[darth tater]

ooooooooooooh





can i have one in pink?

 

[Brandlin]

sigh

never let it be said i am not customer focused
(note i've even added in the missing end rail for you!)

[Rick]

Shiny, very very shiny. I'm guessing that this could be positioned at the other end of the tew-fah bridge?

[Carcharoth]

Very nice 

Will you do an optional door and roof hatch so it can work as a standalone building as well?
Is the trim at the bottom added detail or the existing shape of the tub?

[Brandlin]

Thank you for your positive (non pink) comments Carcharoth and Rick!

@Rick - yes the flattened section will join to Tew-Fah (3rd bullet in original post describes)

@Carchartoth - Yes mike, the flange around the bottom is the lip of the ice cream tub. It's much thinner card than a pringles tube so its going to need a base plate to hold it circular and i think it's going to need the beam work to maintain its rigidity.

As this is a defensive structure i'm a little unsure whether to apply the beamwork as per the Pryn-Gul Tower? I want it to blend into the style of the other buildings, but it strikes me that rendered/stucco walls with wooden beams wouldn't look fortified? Also if I'd put the buttress on the other buildings it would have been entirely wooden. and that doesn't seem defensive enough for me?

roof hatch - certainly, i have a supplier.  Optional door is actually a little trickier. Because this is a cone, to get a vertical door rather than a sloped one I have to provide another vertical surface so build it out with styrene structure. Its not difficult. Or i could put the door at the base of the buttress? and it would be covered by the bridge if attached?

[Carcharoth]

I was thinking along the lines of the door being on the flat side, with a fancy painted (or raised) design sitting above it.

I would imagine lots of variation in style between buildings, or even between different parts of the same building. Maybe include a few interesting features to break up the large area.

I've just been investigating the differences between Ben and Jerry's and Hagen Dazs - B&Js has a much more solid raised lip at its base (the top of your building), but other than that they are quite similar. Might be worth seeing if you can maintain compatibility with both?

I guess you have already been wondering at the possibility of a modular set of walls, with straight wall sections connecting the B&J towers? That could be a very flexible design with lots of uses, particularly if you can work your magnetic supports into it. The vertical support section would be ideal for concealing the magnets in just the right spot...

[darth tater]

Sorry Alan, you know I love you really........

[Emberbreeze]

I guess you have already been wondering at the possibility of a modular set of walls, with straight wall sections connecting the B&J towers? That could be a very flexible design with lots of uses, particularly if you can work your magnetic supports into it. The vertical support section would be ideal for concealing the magnets in just the right spot...

I also immediately saw the potential for fortress type walls. If you had a kit with two of the flat sections you could build them at 180, 120, 90 deg apart and use them along with a TBD wall section to build all sorts of interesting shaped fortress walls.

I also had a cunning idea which would be for a tall tower with 3 bridges at 120 deg each with a fortress tower at the end.

[Brandlin]

yeah walls are something I've been thinking about for a little while... magnets in the vertical supports is also on my list!

tower with 3 bridges @ 120 degrees could be done with the pryngul tower, 3 x tewfah and 3 watchtowers.

[Gethuch]

I suspect a Sketchup of that would gather you a lot of enthusiasm, Brandlin       Go on, you know you want to...

[Brandlin]

I suspect a Sketchup of that would gather you a lot of enthusiasm, Brandlin       Go on, you know you want to...

mutter mutter

[Brandlin]

ok ok seeing as you insist...

this is a potential modular bennan tower.

It has 120 degree symmetry, with 3 potential joining points to walls. If you want a wall attached then you add the vertical flat sections. If you don't then you add the brackets for the balcony - a great spot for slingers/herders.

The picture shows a Few-Fah bridge attached to one of the attachment points, and a balcony.  Remember most of the fubarnii only need to defend against Devanu and other wild beasts - perhaps bandits etc. so i haven't gone to town on crenellations etc...

Now, let me go and mock-up some wall sections before Gethuch nags about them...

[Brandlin]

And this one with a little gate built under the Tew-Fah Bridge!

Will they do ?