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Raptor's Craft Download Catalog - Tested & Proven


Raptor9

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@Raptor9,

Your contribution to this community, and my own personal creative growth (In and out of the KSP world) can not be overstated. You have  taken up the yoke of the master, and carried the dreams of others on your shoulders, just as your craft have allowed us to explore space and push our own imaginations. 

You're ending on a high note, and you're leaving behind a legacy worthy of heroes. 

I, for one, and glad to have known of you, and shared in the adventure in my own uses of your designs.

God bless, good luck, and I look forward to hearing about success in whatever your future endeavors give. 

Cisco Cividanes
@Pikeandglaive on twitter.
 

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Hey Raptor9, thanks for being one of the best community builders and definitely inspire many people for their builds -- especially when looking through all the builds from beta to v1 to even now, watching how your craft build end up giving me a direction myself.

And while Raptor9 already address it, he probably will focus on his real life. That being said, many of his craft are a good way to learn -- and there bound to be some disagreement between his build style and your own. My builds start out partly in a silent, positive protest against his very high part count of the v1.3(?) versions ((particular his Orion-inspired, which composed of Oscar tanks) -- then when 1.4/MH comes out, I know I have to make a low part count version instead. So as I refine my crafts so it approach his level, I also learn a few other things. And there are a few other build decision I disagree with him, just as no doubt people will disagree my build decision -- yet each have some good parts we can learn from.

So thank you, @Raptor9 for being the end goal of many builders. For many others: climb that mountain. It's there. (Just don't copy it or simply simplify his craft!)

Edited by Jestersage
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@Raptor9 I am sorry to see you go! I recently got KSP to help me teach Earth & Space Science, and your craft blueprints were excellent examples I was able to use to show the progression of space programs and the obstacles that come with space exploration.  I hope you are back for KSP2 because I sure will be.

Honestly, I created an account to get in touch with you to thank you for all your work and to ask if there was anywhere else other than photobucket where you may have uploaded your blueprints.  I was going to print many of them out to use as teaching aids with the three copies of KSP I bought for my students to use, but with the photobucket outage, I cannot access any of the full-resolution images (only the thumbnails).

Edited by paleofrank
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Hey! I crawled under the rock I was hiding to say, first of all, thanks for your contributions to this forum. I was heavily inspired by your catalogue and presentation skills, and must say that you have influenced me at the very least as much as I may have influenced you. With that out the way, I just have to add that I totally understand where you are coming from, and hope that you keep on enjoying this game in whatever moments you can steal from that pesky, always demanding, real life. I myself kind of did the same thing quite a while ago, for mostly the same reasons, but never bothered to inform the rest of the forum, so you have shown (again) that you are indeed a more considerate/stylish person than I am.

 

Rune. Keep on keeping on!

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On 12/31/2019 at 5:27 PM, linuxgurugamer said:

I hope you aren't leaving

  Nah, just re-focusing. :)

@Jester Darrak, @Cisco Cividanes, @Jestersage, @paleofrank, and @Rune, thanks for those kind and flattering words.:)

@paleofrank, I don't understand what the hold-up is.  I emailed Photobucket support on Monday regarding my account (which I renewed my annual service in November), but I still haven't heard back from them.  I understand it's the holidays; maybe they are just backed up with similar issues after their power outages in December.  I'll send you a PM.

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Hey, sorry to here you are re-focusing. I've also struggled to find time to get back into KSP over the past year with everything happening in my life. 

Thanks for all the amazing designs, missions and inspirations for my own craft over the years.

In regards to the photos, if you still have the original images then why don't you try and upload them on imgur?

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Thanks for the work Raptor - I never actually fly your craft more than once, far too many parts for my PC, but I regularly download them and see what you've done where and how, then build my own craft with a few stolen ideas here and there :) but I would still like to thank you for all that you've taught and inspired in so many of us.

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Finally got back to KSP, and it saddens me to hear you are leaving just as I arrive.

Raptor, all the best. Thank you for the hundreds of craft that so many thousands of people have taken into the heavens, and, though I haven't gotten the chance to see anything new, I thank you for the fun that you let me have back when I did play. I know that you aren't retiring or quitting KSP or anything, but I still feel like the end of this catalogue is a pretty big deal.

We're all here if you ever need anything. Hope to see you around in the coming months and years!

All the best, man.

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The work you made public here has always been an inspiration besides being one of if not the best collection of KSP craftfiles available. I even asked myself countless times, how you were able to manage and maintain all those craft and keep them up to date with each and every version of KSP. 

I wish you all the best on your personal adventures in the Kerbol system and beyond! I hope to see you around on the forums and am looking forward to see a screenshot or two of your adventures here and there.

Have fun and keep on launching! o7

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey @Raptor9 Wishing you the best, your crafts have been very inspirational. I have often used them as building blocks for my own starships. To anyone that thinks this is cheating I say nay!, Raptors craft demonstrate the fundamental concepts needed to build a successful rocket and then its up to you from there. I mean, Lego ships an instruction book and some ideas eg build 3 things from this one kit and then its like .. ooh i can make  x y and z toooooooo.

Peace n Chicken Grease

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On 1/1/2020 at 1:16 AM, Raptor9 said:

SNIP

Dude, thank you. Not just for mentioning me but for sticking with the updates for so long and for making such awesome craft! I know how hard it is to keep track of changes and updates and bugs and given the size and complexity of your catalogue of craft I think its staggering that you kept it up for so long.

 That alone proves the depth and strength of your character.

    If only employers and customers would understand.. :D

I too will be diving into KSP 2 but I know nothing will come close to the heady heights of KSP in its Heyday and the lengths that some went to make the kerbal system a smaller friendlier place. 

 

See you in KSP 2 mate.

MJ

 

 

 

Edited by Majorjim!
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey @Raptor9 You don't know me and I don't know you very well.

However I've gotten quite a good picture of you via the stuff you inspire the KSP community to do.

You're crafts are insanely good and are without a doubt the best on the whole of KerbalX.

 

Thank you for inspiring me every time again and again.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey and hope to see you around some time again.

 

- Dash

 

Edit: Oh and if there is something I could do to help with anything just let me know

Edited by Dash8466
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Thanks @Dash8466:)

In recent weeks, I've been diving heavily back into KSP for the first time since the summer.  The first thing I did was clean out a lot of craft/subassembly files that I no longer use, are no longer relevant, or were quite old and didn't take advantage of the latest parts/functions of KSP, or my personal build techniques and strategies.  One thing I finally got around to doing was rebuild my Space Shuttle analogue from scratch with a new airfoil, RCS control scheme, and re-balanced payload range.  I also rebuilt the launch stack to utilize the 2.5m Clydesdale SRBs, and built an entirely new External Tank, which led to better balance and control throughout the ascent profile.

The Breaking Ground robotics became quite an important aspect of it as well.  Not just in making a robotic arm for the cargo bay, but designing an articulating body flap mechanism to the aft end of the Shuttle.  This allowed me to maintain near-perfect lift/drag balance throughout the entire reentry profile, to keep the Shuttle neutrally stable whether it was nose up during hypersonic reentry, or nose down in it's terminal glide phase.  The final piece was the 1.9 fuel drain valve.  Since I could now drain all residual liquid fuel and oxidizer from the Shuttle prior to reentry, it allowed me to optimize the airfoil for a more narrow CoM location.  On average, throughout about dozen reentry tests, I only use about 20-40 units of monopropellant for attitude control until I switch to aerodynamic flight controls.

I have to say, the Breaking Ground robotics are definitely worth their price and more.  Aside from the robotic arms, ramps and other immediate uses I thought of when they were first announced, they add so much more functionality to a craft when coupled with the expanded Action Group options; and that's even before you need a KAL for really advanced stuff.

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On 2/19/2020 at 9:04 PM, Raptor9 said:

Thanks @Dash8466:)

The Breaking Ground robotics became quite an important aspect of it as well.  Not just in making a robotic arm for the cargo bay, but designing an articulating body flap mechanism to the aft end of the Shuttle.  This allowed me to maintain near-perfect lift/drag balance throughout the entire reentry profile, to keep the Shuttle neutrally stable whether it was nose up during hypersonic reentry, or nose down in it's terminal glide phase.  The final piece was the 1.9 fuel drain valve.  Since I could now drain all residual liquid fuel and oxidizer from the Shuttle prior to reentry, it allowed me to optimize the airfoil for a more narrow CoM location.  On average, throughout about dozen reentry tests, I only use about 20-40 units of monopropellant for attitude control until I switch to aerodynamic flight controls.

Didn't you consider leaving your STS Shuttle Vanilla?

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On 2/19/2020 at 11:04 PM, Raptor9 said:

Thanks @Dash8466:)

In recent weeks, I've been diving heavily back into KSP for the first time since the summer.  The first thing I did was clean out a lot of craft/subassembly files that I no longer use, are no longer relevant, or were quite old and didn't take advantage of the latest parts/functions of KSP, or my personal build techniques and strategies.  One thing I finally got around to doing was rebuild my Space Shuttle analogue from scratch with a new airfoil, RCS control scheme, and re-balanced payload range.  I also rebuilt the launch stack to utilize the 2.5m Clydesdale SRBs, and built an entirely new External Tank, which led to better balance and control throughout the ascent profile.

I have to say, the Breaking Ground robotics are definitely worth their price and more.  Aside from the robotic arms, ramps and other immediate uses I thought of when they were first announced, they add so much more functionality to a craft when coupled with the expanded Action Group options; and that's even before you need a KAL for really advanced stuff.

Glad to have you back. I gotta say, your craftsmanship is unparalleled in terms of stock design. Can't wait to see what you'll come up with next. As of right now, the only craft I'm having issues with are the LEM (Apollo) rovers. 

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11 hours ago, Jestersage said:

Didn't you consider leaving your STS Shuttle Vanilla?

At the time I was still maintaining the catalog, and the reasoning behind leaving it vanilla was because I was no longer using it in my career save anyway.  But both of those facts have now changed.

Since a lot of my craft files have undergone drastic revisions since the last time I heavily played my career (~2 years ago), I've decided to start a new career after the rest of the Kerbal planets/moons receive their respective revamps.  In the meantime, I did a complete assessment on every craft file on my hard drive, and the associated strategies behind each exploration architecture.  This resulted in cutting out a lot of duplication and excess.  In all, I think I removed around 50 craft files/subassemblies so far, as well as a handful of mission architectures.  I then identified which craft files could be improved using the latest parts and build techniques.

Getting into the Breaking Ground robotics has not only allowed me to make a Shuttle I actually want to use again, but also allowed me to revise my ISS analogue, 'Pioneer Station', to drastically cut the part count.  Namely, using robotics to revamp the main solar arrays, as well as a few tweaks to some other space station modules, I've managed to shrink the part count of 'Pioneer Station' from 488 parts and 24 modules to 366 parts and 16 modules.  And with a single, Shuttle-mounted robotic arm, this also allowed me to get rid of the EMU.  Each one of those little buggers was a solid collection of 24 parts, and needing two of them to assemble a station by pulling modules out of the Shuttle's cargo bay added quite a lot of parts in physics range of the station.  So with all of that, I'm looking forward to the challenge of building an ISS-style station in my upcoming career restart (hopefully this one will be my final career restart, and actually make it to the entirety of the Kerbal system :P).

15 minutes ago, davidy12 said:

Glad to have you back. I gotta say, your craftsmanship is unparalleled in terms of stock design. Can't wait to see what you'll come up with next. As of right now, the only craft I'm having issues with are the LEM (Apollo) rovers. 

Thanks @davidy12Although I do want to make it clear, to avoid any confusion, that I am back to playing KSP; not back to catalog updates/maintenance.

On the topic of the Apollo-style landers, that was one of the more heavily slashed mission architectures in my VAB.  Currently, the catalog has quite a large collection of Apollo-style landers that extended into the Apollo Applications proposals.  The problem with habitation landers like the LV-1H or the LV-2B, was that they really didn't serve much purpose aside from "role-play" habitation.  Without the ability to conduct long-term surface research via a Mobile Processing Lab, my next career will have no extended surface stays on the Mun or Minmus beyond what is needed to deploy surface science experiments, or take measurements with legacy science sensors.

To this end, I've removed rovers from my Apollo landers entirely.  I know, it doesn't seem "right", but I've been forcing myself to look beyond how things worked in real-life, and look to what would work better in KSP.  Kind of like how my Soyuz-analogues have no separate orbital and reentry modules.  With the purpose I designed them for, it wasn't necessary, so I didn't want to force myself to make design decisions solely based on how real-life "equivalents" function.  In KSP, I don't want to box myself in using real-life contemporaries as the measure for success.  Further, this allowed me to avoid making a lander big enough to accommodate a rover, and avoid trying to make a rover small enough to fit on such a small lander frame in the first place.  Of course, I still plan on having surface bases on the Mun, and those will of course have rovers; but this will allow me to optimize the size and layout of the rovers if they can be delivered on dedicated cargo landers versus needing to be folded up and fit in such a small space.

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Just now, Raptor9 said:

Thanks @davidy12Although I do want to make it clear, to avoid any confusion, that I am back to playing KSP; not back to catalog updates/maintenance.

On the topic of the Apollo-style landers, that was one of the more heavily slashed mission architectures in my VAB.  Currently, the catalog has quite a large collection of Apollo-style landers that extended into the Apollo Applications proposals.  The problem with habitation landers like the LV-1H or the LV-2B, was that they really didn't serve much purpose aside from "role-play" habitation.  Without the ability to conduct long-term surface research via a Mobile Processing Lab, my next career will have no extended surface stays on the Mun or Minmus beyond what is needed to deploy surface science experiments, or take measurements with legacy science sensors.

That's understandable. Still, the landers, ISS, and MIR, and orbital craft files still work well enough. The shuttle, yeah, I occasionally use it, and would really like an update with a proper robotic arm.

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8 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

At the time I was still maintaining the catalog, and the reasoning behind leaving it vanilla was because I was no longer using it in my career save anyway.  But both of those facts have now changed.

Fair enough. Would love to see how you plan to do the BG-body flap.

 

8 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

On the topic of the Apollo-style landers, that was one of the more heavily slashed mission architectures in my VAB.  Currently, the catalog has quite a large collection of Apollo-style landers that extended into the Apollo Applications proposals... To this end, I've removed rovers from my Apollo landers entirely.  I know, it doesn't seem "right", but I've been forcing myself to look beyond how things worked in real-life, and look to what would work better in KSP.  Kind of like how my Soyuz-analogues have no separate orbital and reentry modules.  With the purpose I designed them for, it wasn't necessary, so I didn't want to force myself to make design decisions solely based on how real-life "equivalents" function.  In KSP, I don't want to box myself in using real-life contemporaries as the measure for success.  Further, this allowed me to avoid making a lander big enough to accommodate a rover, and avoid trying to make a rover small enough to fit on such a small lander frame in the first place.  Of course, I still plan on having surface bases on the Mun, and those will of course have rovers; but this will allow me to optimize the size and layout of the rovers if they can be delivered on dedicated cargo landers versus needing to be folded up and fit in such a small space.

On the other hand, the nice thing for Apollo style landing is that it's an all-up launch scheme. Obviously a Nova/LK700/LEK would be the easiest due to Direct landing, but even the Apollo-LOR is not too bad, since rendezvous and docking is easier around the Moon.

Regardless, just because we can do Rendezvous/Docking, doesn't change the fact it is a pain in the behind. Feels like I need to baby sit each flight and go back and forth in tracking station.

As for me, I am debating whether to go with a KVV poster at all myself. I think by not using KVV for soem crafts, it cut down the amount of time spend uploading craft and more on designing.

Edited by Jestersage
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On 2/23/2020 at 7:39 PM, Jestersage said:

As for me, I am debating whether to go with a KVV poster at all myself. I think by not using KVV for soem crafts, it cut down the amount of time spend uploading craft and more on designing.

Maybe, but then again, you may get more questions regarding your craft if you cut down on the detailed graphics.  But that's just my take on it; I could be completely over-emphasizing the need for more detailed craft documentation.  Everyone has their own priorities for managing their time. :) For myself, I will sometimes use my own craft graphics as a sort of checklist to keep in mind what action groups do what as I perform critical maneuvers like atmo entry, descent and landing.  Having the ability to edit/view action groups in flight still doesn't necessary capture the whole picture of what each action group is intended to do.

On 2/23/2020 at 7:39 PM, Jestersage said:

Would love to see how you plan to do the BG-body flap.

In a nutshell I mapped it to my Wheel Throttle, which I use Numpad 8 and Numpad 2 for Drive Forward/Drive Back respectively.  This allows me to essentially use those keys as a trimming function separate from my conventional attitude and translation keys.  If my Pitch axis indicator starts going up or down, indicating the SAS is inputting control surface/RCS to maintain the pitch attitude, I will trim the body flap with short taps to maintain the neutral aerodynamic balance of the Shuttle.  This cuts down on monopropellant usage during upper atmosphere flight, and also allows me to more precisely trim the Shuttle for a certain glide airspeed/angle when it gets to the lower atmosphere.

Edited by Raptor9
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  • 3 weeks later...

I have decided to take the raptor 9 mantel as king of Kerbal x crafts i will only use the following mods as such 

restock, restock +, procedural parts, procedural fairings, tweak scale, basically all of Nerteas mods, missing history, and maybe universal storage

my Kerbal x profile: Stefsilver43

 

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If you wish to promote your KerbalX craft, please do so in your own thread. This is not the place for it.

If anyone has any questions relevant to any existing craft in the catalogue, please PM me and I will answer when I am able.

Edited by Raptor9
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