This is my thread documenting my progress in the Collab2021 project.
splat21 Just a quick reminder. We still need a name for our team? What's your vote?
1) Shabby Chic
2) All Access(ories)
3) Shabby Fresnel Chic
4) The Stan Dalones
Model before adding details to the wood. Per Vadim's guidance that the shaft should indeed be longer, have added some length to hook up a decent horse.
The cart placed in the artwork. The downward angle will change as the shaft length has been increased. The model was built with the cart upright. For example, the shaft is perfectly horizontal. The plane is used as a "Jig" for placement of the cart. Placing the 3D cursor in the center of the right wheel, and change the view to Shift-Ctrl-Num3, rotate (pivoting on the 3D cursor) the cart until the shaft breaks the terrain (in this case, about half of the shaft). Then Shift-Ctrl-Num7 for a top view and rotate 12 deg.
splat21 Don't forget, you also need to @ Kent ( @theluthier ) as well so that he can find your homework. Looks great by the way.
splat21 Great work 👍! As far as the shafts are concerned, Vadim 
harbinger_ua has it said here:
You can make the shafts a bit longer as it is indeed for a horse. But not too long as it might ruin the overall balance of the silhouette. I would tilt at least the backside of the cart a little bit (as did for example vincav81 here). Some hard edges (for example at the wheel rims) could be slightly beveveled (but only on segment!) so that it doesn't look that razor-sharp. Details like bolts are something that you can model in a more detailed version an then bake into a texture for the low-poly-model. I think that's what Kent @theluthier also has in mind when it comes to such smaller parts.
splat21 I'm looking forward to your further progresses with the cart 😀!
splat21 You can make the shafts longer as Vadim harbinger_ua wrote ( linked in my previous post directly above). This results in a different tilt angle of the cart in relation to ground as long as we assume that the ground in that place is even or we add some unevenness to the ground there as vincav81 has thought about and illustrated here.
I just want to add a few comments to how the cart was constructed. Below are screen shots showing the cart without mirror and array modifiers. I wanted the boards in the very back to be unique, so I did not mirror them.
For detailing, I looked upon the Treasure Chest project. The treasure chest was probably buried in sand, exposed to a lot of salt elements, and thrown around on a ship deck. I view that this wagon does not need to be as beat up as that. Does it have wear? Absolutely, but I tried to give it some character while hopefully not putting in too much in cracks and dings.
I also did not put in hardware, such as bolts, screws, etc. Two reasons for this: trying to keep the cart as low poly as I can and trying to stay true to the original concept art. Having said that, I did model a guide to keep the axel in place underneath the cart. No one will probably see it, but it struck me that it would be an incomplete construction without that.
For some boards, I would detail the first, copy it and rotate it on two axis and use it as another board. So, the second board would be the same but on its opposite side and upside down. Just trying to minimize my work.
Thank you, splat21 for this insight into the construction process of your cart😀! I also like that you think about how such a cart is working as you demonstration with the mostly hidden axel under the cart 👍!
Your cart is looking great. I like the details you’ve put into the wooden slats and the construction. 👍🏻
Wonderful progress splat21! You've easily earned full points 👍
I second the feedback from duerer. Indeed small details like rivets will have a place in the normal map bake.
My only stylistic note is that currently there's a bit too much precision for the aesthetic of the art. With olde-timey fatnasty straight lines are out; imperfect tapers are in. You could introduce this with lattices for a non-destructive implementation, same way that mona-loren tapered the glass portion of the lantern I worked on during the stream.
splat21 Congratulations to full points 😀! A discovery by vincav81 which has been confirmed byVadim harbinger_ua is that there's a slight curvature on the upper edge of the cart box backside. See here (orange frame).
fatnasty
@theluthier take a break , your not in a fantasy world where R 'n' R is not required. 😴
