Dev Diary: Bringing the 'Modern Tommy Gun' to WW2044
What if World War II happened in the 21st century? That’s the pitch behind our WW2044 project - reimagining each battle 100 years into the future. Today, I'm diving into the design process of a modern 'Tommy Gun' inspired by a CZ Bren mod by Vanguard Arms!
From Real-World Tech to Alt-History Art
The inspiration for this design came from the community! Shoutout to the lads on Discord who pointed me toward @TFBTV and their coverage of the Vanguard Arms booth at a recent SHOT Convention.
There, Jacob from Vanguard Arms showed off an incredible CZ Bren mod which looks exactly like a modernized Tommy Gun. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to paint it into the WW2044 universe.
Blending Aesthetics: Retro-Futurism, Dieselpunk, sci-fi, alt-history
For many of our designs, I am trying to find a unique "retro-futurist" style which blends modern tactical aesthetics with classic WWII silhouettes. Longtime fans of the channel will see heavy overtones of 'Dieselpunk Project' in here - my long-running personal project which has finally made it into a universe idea.
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The Weapon: I combined the sleek, iconic shape of the original Thompson, specifically that "delicious" wooden furniture and vertical foregrip, with modern attachments like suppressors, red dot sights, and high-capacity 50-round drum mags.
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The Uniforms: For the US Army, I am converting modern combat OCP (Operational Camouflage Pattern) and helmets with attachments to a classic WWII "Olive Drab" and pigskin leather look.
Expanding the Universe
For WW2044, We're trying to blend sci-fi into the Kaiser Cat house style. I am currently experimenting with "History Book" outtakes to present Kaiser Cat Collective projects as if they were actual historical records from the year 2044.
The alt-history and militaria community has come out in full force to support this vision, contributing everything from video ideas to custom 3D prints. Because of your suggestions, a new YouTube animatic, 'D-Day 2044', has officially entered the concept stage and will be released later this year!
About the Author
Vincent 'VincentDN' De Nil is a Raleigh-based graphic designer and illustrator specialised in historically accurate world-building, flag design, and concept art. He is the founder of Flagmaker & Print, a custom flag manufacturing network producing world-class historical flag reproductions and historically inspired graphic design. Additionally, he is the founder of the Kaiser Cat Collective, a global collective of content creators creating historically inspired short film, comics, books and art.
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/vincentdn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentdn/ Kaiser Cat Cinema: https://kaisercatcinema.com/about Flagmaker & Print: https://flagmaker-print.com/pages/about-vincent
Discover our projects
- Design & Print your own custom flag online: https://flagmaker-print.com/
- What if there had been an American Medieval age? https://american-kingdoms.com/
- What if there had been a Second American Civil War? https://dividedstates-project.com/
- What if WWII had happened in the 2040s? https://kaisercatcinema.com/s/about-ww2044
- What if there had been a three-way cold war? https://kaisercatcinema.com/s/about-coldwarproject