Hey guys,
Capt. Dave and I are working on this 300 ton far trader for the
Traveller RPG.
Fat Cat is two decks and 37.5 meters LOA with a tri-hull design.
Some of you may have seen
the 2-D wip. Look through that thread for general information about what's going on.
Modeling is in Wings3D; final renders will be done in Kerkythea. Questions and comments will be welcomed.
This is the original concept model:
I've started rebuilding the basic hull shape for the model. I've got the beginning of the upper hulls and the pylons. If you look at the plans from the 2D wips, you may see they don't match exactly in some places - I'm aware of it. I'll be taking some artistic liberty when I think it will benefit the design.
enjoy!
General Specifications
LOA: 37.5m
BEAM: 35m
HEIGHT: 13m
TONNAGE: 300dT (gross); 144dT (net)
Primary Hull: 32.5m x 14m x 9m; 120dT/GT
Secondary Hulls (P/S): 24.5m x 9m x 7m; 90dT/GT
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot, 1-5 Crew; 16 Passenger Capacity
Posts
Also I downloaded the wings3d program. I plan to play with it and see if I can get the hang of it. Would be cool if I could finally have an outlet for some of my mechanical ideas.
As for the designs not exactly matching the deck plans...If the design match perfectly, it just wouldn't be a traveller ship (remember my comment about the Broadsword?).
Two more (man, I like this first one!)
hellsyeah, I surprised myself with how well the hull lines turned out. It looks massive (as a hauler should), despite its small size; yet still appears sleek and quick.
thanks!
my desktop is about five years old (with minor upgrades) - 3GHz dual core, 4GB RAM - and it runs fine.
I so need to get back to writing. So no one want to be a proof reader I take it? If i'm wring, and you do, PM me with an email address I can send the .doc too.
p.s. Dave, I can proofread too if you need me to.
I don't have the full draft done yet, but I guess i should send it to you as is. I'm betting you will have some useful input to get this thing written.
Still, it looks great as is!
thanks!
I say all this drive home the point that even parts that are only used on this ship, and only in one location on the ship, are far from in short supply. Roughly 1000 of these ships are made each year, and with an operational life of around 250 years, its likely there are 230,000 (give or take a few thousand; accounting for attrition) of these ships in operation.
all in all, however, you're right. I wouldn't think this ship was constructed by welding panels together anyway; the skin of the hull is probably fabricated in place (some sort of fabric impregnated with a resin, formed in place and flash cured, perhaps?). That's just wild speculation, but it's the general construction concept I've had in mind. Basically, you could imagine that panels are mostly in place only where you might need to access things. Other, larger panels might simply facilitate replacement and repair.
damn, this is as close as I can zoom in? better scrap it.
j/k
Is that white line thats floating above the secondary hull an artifact or is it some kinda hand rail? If its a hand rail its going to burn off in reentry.
(Incidentally, I don't think this design is terribly well-suited to reentry [in the present-day sense] at all. It would definitely need a more controlled descent, and a fairly soft landing in particular [S-TOL]. I placed high-power antigrav "pushers" on the bottom of the hulls for landing assist; I don't know how valid that is in the Traveler universe but it seemed logical.)
That's all for tonight, folks.