[Thaeris]

Until otherwise noted, most of our military combat craft have been designed, are being re-designed, or have been slated for development - their place and standing is understood. What is not so well defined is the world of civilian and military support and transit vehicles. Thus, in this thread we shall design and discuss the other vehicles which eventually will be of use, if not for us, for others, within the universe of Stellar Assault.



And here we begin. This design was concieved today, and is still a bit green. The "Lady of the Stars" is a heavy starliner which would not only engage in very long solar cruises, but being fitted with a military grade jump drive would also be suitable for large scale interstellar passenger and freight transit. The image above demonstrates a cruiseliner variant of the ship, with multiple sky domes on the upper surface of the hull. This is NOT the same vessel as the proposed "solar sail" liner, which still needs to be developed in further detail.

The dimensions and proportions of the ship might still be sorted out in greater detail. The original proposed form would have been around 1200 meters long and some 800 meters high; the current version would still be around the initial length but the height is reduced to 600 meters. In fact, it might be better in the long run to reduce the height further still. However, I think the concept of the design all there, and it ought to make for a lovely ship.

As far as story information goes, this would be the largest of all the civilian passenger ships in our continuity, at least as far as the initial campaign goes. The ship is equipped with a hangar/yacht bay, which as of writing this, I'm not sure is on only one side of the ship or both. The design does not incorporate solar sail technology, but rather relies on raw engine power alone. Being equipped with military grade engines and drives, inefficiency is not a concern here. The engine configuration is as follows: a single light engine is mounted aft of the bridge superstructure; a trio of engines, one small and two large engines are mounted to the rear of the main hull; two pairs of two engines each are mounted along the lower sides of the hull. The placement of the engines is intended to align the force of the ships engines evenly with the ship's center of mass - further analysis, should it be needed, could improve the placement of the engines still.

Until the next time...  

[Quanto]

1200Meters!?
Damn dude, thats friggin huge.

[Quanto]

I got to admit, I'm having a hard time with the Forward swept wings...

[Thaeris]

Wait, SAY WHAAAAT???

What are you working on there? You started on that already?

...

Surprised rants aside, as designed, the ship has only has one "fin" per say, and that points straight down. Think of this (in an abstract fashion) when pondering the "wing configuration" of the Lady of the Stars:



I understand you'll adapt the design to your own purposes, but here's what I was thinking: a tall, sleek and elegant ship with powerful lines. The ship is far more substantial vertically than it is in terms of width.

If you need me to work on additional drawings of the type, I can get started on that in the very near future.

[General Battuta]

Oh. I too assumed that was a pair of forward-swept wings.

[Thaeris]

...Strange. It never looked like that to me.

Next time I will need to ensure that I include a forward diagram as well as the lateral profile... though I figured by the lateral profile it would be fairly clear that there was a single, large fin or wing beneath the hull, not a pair.

Live and learn, chaps.

 

[Quanto]

Hehe, this is why front views are important Thaeris.
But yeah, I'll keep working on the one I got, and use it as an outerspace 747.
For the "Lady of the Stars", I'll keep your fish design in mind. Hehe, Andy won't be pleased  

[Thaeris]

I'd say it's more so "ship" than fish. The same might be said of the solar sail vessel. If the lines remind me of anything, they remind me a bit of the original perspective view I prepared for the Hyperion revision. Thus, the ship ought to have a powerful visual presence whilst demonstrating considerable grace. As a truly massive vessel, that is a rather fitting design goal.

The example of the sailfish was made so the fin position on the lower side of the hull could be better understood. When I fist saw the ship in my mind, I saw the main hull of the vessel, which then swept down into a ventral fin. Along that fin was a multitide of lights from suites and galleys, etc. That might make the drawing to date a little more easily understood if there's a problem.

[Thaeris]

Upon our discussion yesterday, a slight revision of the concept is necessary. Here's my current proposal:


Length: 635 meters
Height: 270 meters
Width: 100-150 meters (TBD)

"There are only seven ships of the Lady of the Stars class in existance. Development of the class was comissioned to Archon Heavy Industries through Astral Starlines, which itself was acting as a sub-contractor to Synthesis at the time. In this regard, Astral Starlines was given the charge of providing mass personnel and colonist transport to mining hubs and colonies in the outer solar system, Alpha Centauri, and Proxima. The ships were designed with an extensive lifespan in mind, and were thus built with a modular internal arrangement permitting a variety or roles to be carried out depending on the wishes of the customer. By the time the first hull was laid down, however, interest in intersystem transportation had drastically diminished. Despite this fact, Astral Starlines was locked into their commitment (as was Synthesis by project association) with Archon Heavy Industries and thus proceeded with the project. Given the relatively uncertain nature of future space mass transit, all vessels of the class were equipped with military grade engines and drives to enable fast and efficient long-range interstellar transportation. Even in "cruise liner" configuration, as the class namesake is configured, over 10,000 passengers may be accomodated in superior comfort. The Lady of the Stars-Class Starliners are the largest civilian passenger vessels ever designed."

The first five ships in the class were issued to Astral Starlines (Astral Line). Only two of the vessels were built as dedicated Starliners with combined passenger and heavy freight capabilities:

"Lady of the Stars" (cruiseliner)
"Gift of the Sun" (cruiseliner)
"Light of the Dawn" (cruiseliner)
"Light of Polaris" (starliner)
"Mount of Angels (starliner)

Two ships were comissioned by Solar Cruiselines (Solar Line), a company which deals soley with operation within Sol. Despite the capability of the Lady of the Stars class of vessel, the Solar Line has left the business of interstellar transportation to other companies:

"Crest of the Morning" (cruiseliner)
"Celestial Traverser" (cruiseliner)


If we are to develop the capabilities of the ship further, we might choose to analyze what is now the world's largest cruise ship.

I can't quite yet seem to come up with an accurate forward profile, but I do believe this lateral profile is an improvement in terms of basic form:

[Quanto]

I went ahead an got some work done on our Outerspace 747.

Length: 80 meters
Height: 17.5 meters
Wingspan: 57.5 meters

"The Titan Industries AL-551 is the most popular Astroliner with over 66 private starline companys throughout the Solar System and Proxima Centauri. It has a seating capacity of 462 and can travel at a top speed of 1.5 LYPHs (Light-Years Per Hour). The AL-551 is actually a very old space craft with a long service life and a number of revisions to keep it up to date with the newest technologies.
The AL-551 is unique among modern spacecraft in that it can take off and land within an atmosphere and also travel inter-system. Another unique feature (or lack of feature) is that it is without an anti-gravity drive, which most spacecraft in the 33rd century have taken for granted. The lack of this device has allowed Titan Industries to sell the AL-551 well below cost and out sell other popular Astroliners."

[General Battuta]

Works for me! Looks kinda SST, in a good way.

[Thaeris]

She's coming along superbly, though the main design feature I'd wonder about now is how precisely the ship handles itself on the ground. As of now, I'd guess the ship has an extremelt stalky undercairrage and has a pronounced nose-down attitude on the ground.

[Quanto]

I just finished the textures for this puppy, hope you all like. This is only the "Corporate Prototype" Skin, we'll need to work on a number of skins for each possible major Starline Company.

[Angelus]

That ship looks nice.

Don't like the texture on the Wing tips though.

[Quanto]

That ship looks nice.

Don't like the texture on the Wing tips though.

Noted, I'll change it when I find the motiviation. Probably when I get around to working on the other skins...

Actually, if I posted the Template in PSD format, would anyone be interested in a little creative contest to come up with pretty Airline style skins for this baby?

[z64555]

Gent's, that lower "fin" on this particular Lady would be called a Keel if it where an ocean vessel...

On that note, That's a freakn huge keel! 

[Mongoose]

Kind of reminds me of the Starship Titanic.

[z64555]

I just finished the textures for this puppy, hope you all like. This is only the "Corporate Prototype" Skin, we'll need to work on a number of skins for each possible major Starline Company.

Ah, can't believe I missed that one last time.

Can I get a ticket for a flight on one of those things? I'd like first class but I have a feeling I can only afford coach, Lol.