Zack: 100+ Ton Missile Tank/Rover(wip)

[Jakalth]

Well now. Thought I'd have some fun trying to make a super heavy missile carrier. I might have gotten a little carried away already. So far the Carrier it's self is nothing more then a rolling chassis. Ok, to be honest, it's not just a rolling chassis. I have a fully implemented custom suspension installed on it that lets each wheel move up and down freely, more then the wheels suspension would allow, using heavy landing gear as the shock absorbers. It has a row of short trusses for each wheel that can flex freely letting each wheel move independently. This lets it contour to the ground nicely, improving stability. Only issue is the wheels want to twist while steering at the moment and I don't know how to fix this, yet, without reducing the flex of the suspension. The wheel assembly twists/rotates clockwise or counterclockwise while steering, causing them to bind up a little. Usually just the front or rear wheels do this.

All the wheels are in full contact with the ground in this pic. It's a bit deceptive though.

It's current weight, as a rolling chassis, is 91 Tons. It has a top speed of 13 m/s. And it can cross most terrain with little trouble. Due to it's mass, it acts like a battering ram and can take out any building in the KSP with just a "love tap" at 4 m/s. It's only issues are the wheel twist while turning and the trouble it has with crossing the "rails" between the VAB and the launch pad(due to the wheels twisting instead of climbing).

Planned weaponry:

1: a single massive F.R.E.D multi-missile(added, but it's so large it becomes dangerous to maneuver the Zack, might remove it...)

2: 2-4 Arget, guided anti-armor missiles(added)

3: at least 4 heavy M-Beam missiles

4: 2 racks of 12 light M-Beam missiles

5: possibly a ramming prow of some type.

Any ideas on how to fix the wheel twist would be appreciated.

Info:

F.R.E.D = Fragged Radiated Exploded Demolished. It's a multi-missile with 24 cluster bomblets, 8 M-Beam kinetic penetrators, and an eject-able outer casing.

Arget = small guided missile using an M-Beam kinetic penetrator warhead with enough fuel to fly 4-5 Km. Highly maneuverable.

Gear = Part of the suspension. Needs to be reset upon deployment and sometimes while firing missiles. Reset by raising the gear then lowering them again.

Missile launch stabilizers = Using action group 1 to deploy them, then raising the main gear for the suspension, allows some of the weight to be moved off the wheels, hopefully preventing them from being damaged by the recoil of the missile.

Finished product available here: Zack missile carrier(finished) Replace the craft file if you downloaded the older in testing version.

Link to the post discribing the final result is here: LINK

Edited March 10, 2015 by Jakalth

[Jakalth]

F.R.E.D missile equipped along with 4 Arget anti-armor guided missiles. Also added the crew cabin for the lone Kerbal to rain down some pain. And hopefully be able to repair any damage it might receive from launching FRED.

The vehicle now has a set of heavy landing gear underneath to stabilize it when the main missile is being launched, and a slightly improved suspension.(less wheel twist... only a little though...) The stabilizing gear is deployed separately from the main suspension gear.

Download for testing purposes: Zack missile carrier

Edited March 9, 2015 by Jakalth

[Azimech]

Ohw ... no download link yet.

I'll be patient

[Starwhip]

If you had girders between your wheels, it should reduce the twisting while allowing the wheels to translate up and down...

Then again, I haven't seen your suspension mechanism...

[Jakalth]

The suspension is rudimentary. Basically acts like a torsion bar. I did add struts between the wheel assemblies to reduce twisting. It helped a little. It does have some odd traits though.

Did I mention it's a Huge beast? Won't fit under the tall bridge in the R&D complex if the FRED missile is still attached.

I'll add a download so you guys can take a closer look at it and see what you think. Even if it is still a work in progress and missing some of it's armament yet. Just let me know if you think I should leave the FRED missile in place or just go with more Argets instead?

The wheel assemblies are attached to the small girders, which act as the suspension arms. The small girders have no reinforcing so are able to flex quite a bit. Struts are connected from the small girders to the wheel assembly to reduce twisting. The struts also connect the girder arms to each other, but only at the end, reducing horizontal movement. The heavy landing gear goes from the upper XL girders, which are reinforced, to the girder segment right next to the wheel assembly, pushing it down. The weight of the vehicle compresses both the suspension on the wheel assemblies and the heavy landing gear. This combo gives much larger movement then the wheel assemblies alone would have.

Nothing really breakthrough, but it's functional.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Jakalth

[zekes]

Who needs suspention when you have sheer weight? XD Nice tank though.

[Jakalth]

Good point there zekes. That behemoth looks a bit organic flexed like that.

slightly annoying problem now. Due to the sheer mass of the tank, once the M-beam missiles are all added, the suspension kinda breaks, as does my framerate, and the runway, and my head... It's only 170 Tons... and over 1100 parts. That's not bad, right? right....?

Edited March 9, 2015 by Jakalth

[Gaalidas]

If you were to break down and start adding mod parts, lo-fi has some awesome suspensions in his wheels that would work rather well with that monstrosity.

[Jakalth]

Well, it's finished. Took a little tweaking to make it usable at this scale but here we are.

It's final payload is as follows:

1 F.R.E.D missile

2 Arget missiles

6 heavy M-Beam missiles

2 "8 pack" light M-Beam missile packs.

Frontal ramming prow.

The Kerbal can be EVA'd from the landing pod inside the cabin and walked to the external control seat, also inside the cabin. The ladder in front lets you EVA your Kerbal pilot to repair the wheels if they get damaged as well.

Total weight: 160.8 Tons

Part count: 1122 parts...

When deployed, the Zack will have it's stabilizing gear deployed and the suspension gear retracted. This is to prevent it from damaging the runway the moment gravity sets in. Once it is settled, EVA your Kerbal to the control seat first, if you plan on doing so, otherwise the suspension gets reset... After your Kerbal is in his "hot seat", Use the landing gear button to engage the suspension. Letting this completely engage and settle, you can now use action group 1 to raise the stabilizing gear. The tank is now free to move. Move with some caution until the FRED missile has been deployed. It will wobble about a bit as you move.

It has a lot of stages. Each stage is for a seperate weapon and can be moved around as wanted. It has a few too many weapons to simply use action groups to fire them... Firing the FRED missile early is probably the safest bet. Both the FRED missile and the 4 Argets can be remote controlled by switching too them as soon as they are fired, or by dropping the thrust too 0 so you can have more time to switch to them. SAS recommended for the big missiles, but not needed for the missile carrier its self.

Download: HERE or on first post.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Jakalth