I'm currently working on a viking/medieval style longhouse that will be the center part of a 'village set'.
The door and windows are posable. Still got to put the roof on. I intend to put some props inside too.
This is meant as a commercial item (probably in Renderosity's marketplace), if there is an interest.

Evanara

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1124237

Thanks for the info, leather-guy. I wasn't aware of this set. I had looked through the market place and didn't find anything like this , so I felt this was a 'safe' subject. Looks like Tygercub got the same idea sooner than me :) . Do you know if this set is available yet ?. What I am aiming for is very much the same thing. Maybe I should start on the next sets sooner (medieval mill and viking great hall). Evanara

Evanara, What about Early or Medieval Russian? Interesting woodwork, oodles of details, and a distinctive style which won't get confused in the marketplace. :) Carolly

To Carolly Interesting idea. I'll see if I can find some reference material. Evanara

Evanara, There's probably enough interest out there in the Vikings that different Viking village buildings would probably be bought by the same people. So rather than competing with the first set, your buildings would complement it. For example, I've bought several different Medieval male tunics. They really aren't all that different from each other but because of my interest in the period, I use each one to add variety to my renderings. You may find the same thing is true with village buildings. azl

As an alternative that might complement some existing items, you could make it into a Pacific Northwest Native longhouse -- same basic structure and something that hasn't been addressed before.

Attached Link: http://www.arkikon.no/bygningsrekonstruksjon.htm

Click on the link to see a 3D model of a Viking longhouse, its the large house near the end of the page (0_langhus_s.jpg) click on it to open a larger image showing how they where constructed.

Here's a link to a image of a real longhouse, see how tiny the people are in comparison to the house.

http://www.physio.unibe.ch/~thurbon/Norway/Images/Longhouse.jpg

To me it seems that there's a distinct similarity between Viking, Norse, Scandinavian and Russian early art, architecture and culture as can be seen in the 19th century (I think) painting of the medieval Russian folk hero Illya Murometz (...ut some horns or wings on those guys' hats and you got Vikings...also, that would be a great use for the DAZ charger).

Walter
(Original full name - Vladimir Guslawski - hence the interest in things Russian)

...somebody ate my 'p'...that should be "(...put"

Attached Link: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/North_American_exploration.htm

Thanks all for the comments and links. These will be usefull. To Staale : My version od the house is indeed a rather small house (something around 4m wide x 8m long, approximately). It is my 'proof of concept' for the later models :) . I intend to do larger models in additional sets. To Guslaw : The similarity of art/lifestyle is understandable as the vikings did invade/colonised part of what is now russia (as they did with a lot of countries). Viking is in fact not the name of the people but the name of what they did : they went on viking raids to do commerce with, colonize or attack other lands. In some cases , as in France, some clans/tribes were brought in by the local governments to fight off other viking raids, so the culture is one of the most wide spread of the medieval cultures. Evanara

Evanara, Yup. Russia comes from "Rus" a tribe of Swedish Vikings who opened trade routes from lake Malaren to the Black and Caspian Seas via the river systems. Russia was known to them as Gardariki (land of walled towns): because of the hostile tribes, they had to fortify their trading posts. Novgorod and Kiev were two of the towns they founded. Once you have a fortified site, people tend to accumulate near it. There are fences and outbuildings in northern Russia which look exactly like the ones in northern Scandinavia. In Russia, they had more types of wood to choose from, and sometimes used as many as 5 types in a single dwelling. Larch is nearly waterproof, so it was used near the ground and in places under the roof where water could collect. Pine is easily carved, and was used for shutters and decorative elements. Aspen turns silvery and was used on onion domes for the shimmery effect. I have 2 books which are good references. "The Wooden Architecture of Russia" by Opolovnikov (father and daughter team) has photos of houses, fortifications, bridges, churches, and some sketches and floorplans and interior shots. "Russian Houses" by Gaynor/Goldstein/Haavisto is much more modern, but there are photos of some of the "Slavic Revival" dwellings. I photographed one here in California which was gorgeously detailed: unpainted wood, but carved everywhere. You might see if your local library has them. I've got a Wednesday project deadline and a computer which is acting up, but if you want to go this route, I'll come up with some scans for you. Carolly