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3DNethrati Class Corvette
sorceress21269
Posts: 577Member
Those of you who remember the old toon Galaxy Rangers will recognize the lines of this little ship. Heavily inspired by Ranger One my version is a much larger vessel and redesigned to fit into my original universe.
After the close of the war with the Drooidan Corporate the USTO Navy was in critically short supply of general-purpose type III starships. In fact, so many of these small ships of the line were destroyed during the conflict that personnel logistics came nearly to a standstill by the end of the 28thcentury. There were also vast areas of the Treaty zone's interior that were left unpatrolled as well as numerous border zones left unguarded. The remaining mission specific scoutships, cutters, and corvettes of the era were drastically overworked leaving their crews exhausted with dangerously low moral.
In consideration of these circumstances the UST Fleet Engineering Command petitioned for and received appropriations for a new class of starship that would fill the gap left by the conflict with the Drooidan. The design requirements were relatively simple: Under the 800mt limit for a category III starship, trans-atmospheric capable, able to stay on-station without resupply or refuel for no less than 6 weeks, and must be multi-mission configurable with minimum re-tooling time for new variant assembly. Additionally, the design must be fully upgradeable and modular. Once the final details and primary specifications were decided upon the prototype contract went up for bid. Only three shipbuilders submitted preliminary designs for the contract, Tantiss Dynamics, The Aquellan ShipbuilderA’s Guild, and Hyperflight Aerospace. All of the designs from these companies met the minimum specifications for the contract but only two had designed a vessel that was fiscally close enough to what USTO officials were looking for them to grant funding for prototype development. Tantiss Dynamics with their Epsilon class corvette and the Aquellan ShipbuilderA’s Guild with their design; the Proteous class general utility type starship.
The Tantiss prototype, though inarguably more sophisticated, had numerous problems with its development and assembly. It's most noticeable feature incorporated interchangeable hull sections to suit a specified mission or purpose. Though a revolutionary idea in starship construction the Tantiss design team was unable to overcome numerous problems with the design's structural integrity during FTL envelope transition and a prototype was lost with all hands during a test flight. Subsequent environmental system problems as well as command computer failures ultimately doomed the Tantiss design. It was not a long review process once the prototype performance testing results were tallied and evaluated by the contract selection committee. And the contract was awarded to the Aquellan ShipbuilderA’s Guild.
The prototype Proteus design went through numerous configuration and systems changes before ever taking flight for testing. The most notable aspect was during the development and primary fuselage and spaceframe construction of the first prototype a new technology emerged. Anti-grav lifters, not available during the original design construction phase had become available to the USTO Navy. The original spaceframe of the craft was much more aerodynamic. It had been built to use high pressure plasma/fusion thrusters as lift engines to get the craft airborne. Once accomplished the main drive would be started and the craft would begin to fly aerodynamically at approximately 130 knots. This design limitation drastically limited the addition of multiple mission systems that the USTO Navy had originally desired to have fly aboard the vessel class. But once grav-lifter technology was incorporated into the design this reduced the necessity of a completely aerodynamic spaceframe. Several modules housing various sensor and tactical systems, as well as additional living space were added to the design. This resulted in the now familiar blocky and broken lines of the class. So many changes were made the design was renamed the Nethrati Class in honor of Toran Nethrati the inventor of the anti-grav lifter.
Now able to carry a much larger payload the craft lifts off via anti-grav and begins forward flight, not achieving aerodynamic lift until well over 160 knots. Though highly capable and functional vessels, Nethrati class pilots complained the craft, when operating atmospherically, was clunky, longitudinally unstable, slow to roll and unforgiving. Engineers tackled this problem from several angles. First, they added an active digitally stabilized mechanical flight control system and removed the pure fly-by-wire flight controls. Actual control surface feedback through the push/pull rods and flight control linkage is now stabilized via a digital trim system. The trim system uses proximity sensors at all control arms and linkage junctions that receive data from one of the four Air Data Computers, inertial stabilization sensors and old fashioned pitot static input. It uses the combined data of all sources to dampen control surface movement to keep adverse pitch, roll and yaw within limits. Considered by most engineers to be obsolete technology, the old style mechanical flight control system was able to overcome a fly-by-wire system that could not be programmed to cease overcompensation for the craftA’s lack of aerodynamic lines. Ironically, state of the art technology made the craft nearly un-flyable.
Despite the design challenges of the vessel, NETHRATI class light starships have now been in service with the USTO Navy, as well as the Aquellan Royal Defense Force since the signing of the United Suns treaty, with a long-term service history of over 100 solar years. These hearty craft have proven to be one of the most versatile designs ever produced by the Aquellan Shipbuilders Guild. With a current production availability of 12 different military configurations ranging from ambassadorial transport to armed intercept, the NETHRATI class design is sure to continue in UST service well into the next century.
After the close of the war with the Drooidan Corporate the USTO Navy was in critically short supply of general-purpose type III starships. In fact, so many of these small ships of the line were destroyed during the conflict that personnel logistics came nearly to a standstill by the end of the 28thcentury. There were also vast areas of the Treaty zone's interior that were left unpatrolled as well as numerous border zones left unguarded. The remaining mission specific scoutships, cutters, and corvettes of the era were drastically overworked leaving their crews exhausted with dangerously low moral.
In consideration of these circumstances the UST Fleet Engineering Command petitioned for and received appropriations for a new class of starship that would fill the gap left by the conflict with the Drooidan. The design requirements were relatively simple: Under the 800mt limit for a category III starship, trans-atmospheric capable, able to stay on-station without resupply or refuel for no less than 6 weeks, and must be multi-mission configurable with minimum re-tooling time for new variant assembly. Additionally, the design must be fully upgradeable and modular. Once the final details and primary specifications were decided upon the prototype contract went up for bid. Only three shipbuilders submitted preliminary designs for the contract, Tantiss Dynamics, The Aquellan ShipbuilderA’s Guild, and Hyperflight Aerospace. All of the designs from these companies met the minimum specifications for the contract but only two had designed a vessel that was fiscally close enough to what USTO officials were looking for them to grant funding for prototype development. Tantiss Dynamics with their Epsilon class corvette and the Aquellan ShipbuilderA’s Guild with their design; the Proteous class general utility type starship.
The Tantiss prototype, though inarguably more sophisticated, had numerous problems with its development and assembly. It's most noticeable feature incorporated interchangeable hull sections to suit a specified mission or purpose. Though a revolutionary idea in starship construction the Tantiss design team was unable to overcome numerous problems with the design's structural integrity during FTL envelope transition and a prototype was lost with all hands during a test flight. Subsequent environmental system problems as well as command computer failures ultimately doomed the Tantiss design. It was not a long review process once the prototype performance testing results were tallied and evaluated by the contract selection committee. And the contract was awarded to the Aquellan ShipbuilderA’s Guild.
The prototype Proteus design went through numerous configuration and systems changes before ever taking flight for testing. The most notable aspect was during the development and primary fuselage and spaceframe construction of the first prototype a new technology emerged. Anti-grav lifters, not available during the original design construction phase had become available to the USTO Navy. The original spaceframe of the craft was much more aerodynamic. It had been built to use high pressure plasma/fusion thrusters as lift engines to get the craft airborne. Once accomplished the main drive would be started and the craft would begin to fly aerodynamically at approximately 130 knots. This design limitation drastically limited the addition of multiple mission systems that the USTO Navy had originally desired to have fly aboard the vessel class. But once grav-lifter technology was incorporated into the design this reduced the necessity of a completely aerodynamic spaceframe. Several modules housing various sensor and tactical systems, as well as additional living space were added to the design. This resulted in the now familiar blocky and broken lines of the class. So many changes were made the design was renamed the Nethrati Class in honor of Toran Nethrati the inventor of the anti-grav lifter.
Now able to carry a much larger payload the craft lifts off via anti-grav and begins forward flight, not achieving aerodynamic lift until well over 160 knots. Though highly capable and functional vessels, Nethrati class pilots complained the craft, when operating atmospherically, was clunky, longitudinally unstable, slow to roll and unforgiving. Engineers tackled this problem from several angles. First, they added an active digitally stabilized mechanical flight control system and removed the pure fly-by-wire flight controls. Actual control surface feedback through the push/pull rods and flight control linkage is now stabilized via a digital trim system. The trim system uses proximity sensors at all control arms and linkage junctions that receive data from one of the four Air Data Computers, inertial stabilization sensors and old fashioned pitot static input. It uses the combined data of all sources to dampen control surface movement to keep adverse pitch, roll and yaw within limits. Considered by most engineers to be obsolete technology, the old style mechanical flight control system was able to overcome a fly-by-wire system that could not be programmed to cease overcompensation for the craftA’s lack of aerodynamic lines. Ironically, state of the art technology made the craft nearly un-flyable.
Despite the design challenges of the vessel, NETHRATI class light starships have now been in service with the USTO Navy, as well as the Aquellan Royal Defense Force since the signing of the United Suns treaty, with a long-term service history of over 100 solar years. These hearty craft have proven to be one of the most versatile designs ever produced by the Aquellan Shipbuilders Guild. With a current production availability of 12 different military configurations ranging from ambassadorial transport to armed intercept, the NETHRATI class design is sure to continue in UST service well into the next century.
Post edited by sorceress21 on
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Also I just wanted to add that you do an amazing job with the applied paint on this craft (specifically the blue band with the "210" number. How on earth are you doing that in SU? I've been at a complete loss as to creating something similar.
Take another look at my post as I updated it to add something while you must have been responding.
think of this post more as praise for how the rear end looks as an original design, rather than dissing the rest of it, I'd hope to see it taken forward
Doh! I always seem to overlook the obvious
No offense taken...The original design of Ranger one was never, let's say.."uber" original. It was pretty much a fancy looking space shuttle. This model is more of an homage to that show...But insofar as generic, I think that "generic" is all we have left to work with in sci-fi. To achieve a purely original design that maintains at least some "engineering believability" and to do so without creating a ship design that delves into the absurd is a very rare thing anymore. There are just too many sci-fi artists/designers out there now most of whom are quite talented, and we have seen a repetition of form and shape now crossing over from mainstream genres into original universes.
Besides, designing a "believable vessel" means adapting familiar form and utilizing design traits of real-world technology examples. This results in every sci-fi fleet out there...having there own generic ship class.
And thanks for the compliments all around!:cool:
They are damn near identical. But just 10 years later, the game changed. No longer were we confined to thinking that rockets were the only way to get to space:
Fast forward 40 years, and you have the most recent additions to the sci-fi world. I challenge you to discover a pre-existing design that these mimic:
So it seems to me that the beginnings of sci-fi were much more generic than the more recent designs. It is however, painfully obvious that some companies that do sci-fi these days seem to think it necessary to hack out a crappy plot in lieu of amazing designs, or vice-versa. Rarely do we see a cohesive plotline with original and striking designs.
Thanks to Fantastic Plastic for use of their images!
Back to my WIP:
I started on the con.:
I'm going to model insane level detail on the con. Evey button knob and display will have actual function vs cool looking shapes and meaningless text.
All displays are original work except the stand by HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator) and ADI (Attitude Director Indicator) . Right now they are placeholders until I create the appropriate displays.
Good idea.
pcon8.jpg
This is the ATCSI (Aerospace Traffic Control Systems Interface) panel. Based off real world technology it consists of three elements: The XPNDR (Transponder), ATCSI Interface Display, and D/PCAS (Digital Proximity Collision Avoidance System). In the real world D/PCAS is just called TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System. In my universe I named it D/PCAS because in space there is more than just other spacecraft to avoid. There are natural objects and debris as well.
This panel is located on the Navigation station upright side panel.
On the left is the XPNDR panel.
Gain: Upper and lower frequency tune for the proximity sensor array. Adjusts sensitivity.
XPNDR Display: Displays selected beacon code, altitude data and Selected transceiver unit Symbol.
XCVR MODE:
STBY - A standby mode used for the system test function.
ON - Powers on the transponder into basic mode only. This means an Aerospace Traffic Controller will only have what is called a "primary contact beacon code" on his/her display. No Mode S data will transmit. And no proximity data will be processed or displayed. This mode is primarily used during space dock yard operations.
TA Only - Transponder is on and will transmit Mode S data as long as MODE S function is enabled. Activates proximity sensors and will display proximity advisories on ATCSI, PFD (Primary Flight Display) and SFD ( Secondary Flight Display) Displays.
RA /TA - Transponder is on and operates as in TA Only mode but with proximity vector analysis system enabled. This system processes velocity, trajectory, vertical speed of any proximity sensor contact and computes a collision avoidance protocol if necessary. It generates both audible and visual warnings to a crew.
TAC - Tactical mode disables transmission of beacon code and data on all civilian frequencies. Only other military vessels will receive transponder data in this mode.
MODE S ENB: This button activates the Mode S system which transmits Heading, Velocity, Vertical Speed data on transponder frequencies.
DATA: This button activates the XPNDR display and keypad interface. When pushed the keypad is used to enter the appropriate beacon code.
DISPLAY: This button changes the ATCSI Display between various pages.
XCVR SELECT:
STBY - Selected for test functionality
CHM SNGL - Chameleon Single Channel transponder. This highly classified system mimics any traffic's transmitted transponder data right back at said traffic. used for tactical purposes. A programmable mode with most functionality classified.
CHM x 5 - Same as Single channel Chameleon mode but enables multiple mimics. Also programmable.
C/SLAVE - Civil slave mode. In the event the actual transponder transceiver assembly become inoperable this mode allows for full functionality via civilian ATC datalink frequencies. This is a backup mode and has a data delay due to upload/download times.
F/SLAVE - Same as C/SLAVE mode but operates via encrypted military FOLTES (Fleet Online Tactical Evaluation System) frequencies.
Keypad: Used for data entry and to program specialized function into ATCSI.
I/PCAS Panel.
Master Power - Turns the I/PCAS system on or off. Turning this system off will disable transponder functionality except basic mode.
XMT PWR - Used to power off the transmitter side of the I/PCAS system.
CIVIL JAM - Enables civilian transponder frequency jammer.
RANGE - Selects the transceiver range for I/PCAS and the CIVIL Jammer.
AUTO RNG - Auto Ranging allows the I/PCAS system to automatically select the best transceiver range for optimum operation. When enabled this function disables the manual range selector. This is a multi mode function and can be divided by forward and aft operation. If only one direction is enabled, manual range selection will be enabled for non-selected direction only. The zoom mode, when selected on will automatically change the I/PCAS display's range depending on proximity contact. I.e., if a contact is first detected at 1000 am the display will zoom out to show the contact and visa verse when the contact closes.
ALERT ENB - Allows the transmission of of RA and TA data on civilian transponder frequencies. If disabled, a civilian vessel will not be able to compute transmitted Mode S data. The PFD Override function will change the PFD mode to full I/PCA display when a target closes within a preset range.
INTERROGATE - TAC 1 or 2 when selected will use the #1 or #2 Tactical sensor system to scan a contact's transponder beacon for incongruities. Results of this scan will display on the ATCSI display. MODE S will use the selected tactical scanner to test a contact's MODE S signal for incongruities, result also displayed on ATCSI display. D/LINK uses selected TAC sensor bank to interrogate a contact to determine if said contact is using a datalink frequency.
I no longer think I've ever thought too much about any aspect of any science fiction I've ever done.
And the control panel and ship both look great! ... And not an 'N' word in sight. *ducks*