Fighter Sphere

Hi Guys, I have taken a break from working on another Retro style ship. To work on another little project. Based very loosely on a picture I found in an old rpg.

It is still in the early stages

[IMG]
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[evil_genius_180]

Looks cool so far. Could we please have some background on it?

Hi evil_genius_180

I have not really worked out background for yet. The original ship which it is loosely based on was from an old pen & paper rpg published by a company called GDW, the game was 2300 (if anyone has heard of it). It was old fighter design in the game built for the British Space Navy.

[gmd3d]

I like the look of this

[Kai]

Traveller 2300 is old....

...I feel ancient....

...I remember Traveller back in '77....

Most unusual... probably very practical. I'm curious to know the functional requirements that generated the design criteria for this particular configuration. More please...

Cheers! — Möe

Hi all,

Sorry I have not update this for a while but RL is getting in the way of any practical work on this at the moment. I unlikely to be able to really update progress and background material until September, work deadlines and a holiday will definately get in the way.

Thanks for the response

Agent 13

No worries... I understand exactly how RealLife™ can get in the way of the good stuff. I'll still be watching this thread for when you get around to updating it.

Cheers! — Möe

[evil_genius_180]

Real life? Like, Star Trek? Or maybe Star Wars? I know, Alien!! That's real life, right??

I found a bit from an old SF novel that maybe you can use.

From Run To The Stars by Michael Scott Rohan (1982)

"Pursuit fighters," I told the Ship. "Easily fast enough to catch one of our boats, if they can do it within their limited range. It's limited because they're the only kind of craft designed for dogfight tactics. They're just enormous multidirectional motors in a spheroid hull with one pilot in the centre and a few missile tubes scattered between the motor vents. Fast maneuvering in space means killing momentum one way as well as building it up in another, so there's murderous acceleration and deceleration every few seconds, with the motor blasting in all directions, eating up hydrogen and putting incredible stress on the pilots. Even with all the aids - liquid suspension cocoons, special suits, body reinforcement, field-shields, the lot - it takes years of training to stand it for more than a few minutes at a time. The American call fighter pilots Globetrotters, for some old game where you had to bounce a ball all the time. I've been in a fighter simulator once - I came out black and blue, and they say the real thing's worse. And that's our hope - that Liang can hold them off, make them maneuver so much they'll have to give up, or just outrun them. That's what he's trying to do now, but he's got to be careful. They mustn't box him in and stop him maneuvering, that'd let them swarm over him like hornets, killing the boat or crippling it till the gunships catch up -"

An alternate concept: tetrahedral fighter ships.

http://clowder.net/hop/tetships/tetships.html

Thanks for the story quote, nyrath. Very cool to get some insight into the possible design concept here.

Cheers! — Möe