[WIP] [1.2.2/1.3.x] AlphaMensae's Simple Overhaul Project: A real-life rocket revamp without the complexity. v0.01 Initial partial dev release, Soyuz-KG/KMA parts

[AlphaMensae]

The crew arm was the first arm to be made, and it's now largely complete (save for a few visual details) and working.

 

And it retracts as well, just used the existing .cfg file for the previous version of the arm...only for the new one there is simply a thrustTransform object in the the arm, no need for a micro SRB.

 

The other swing arms are next on the to-do list, and having made essentially my own red-colored girder, the other arms will be using it as their core.

 

Edited February 11, 2018 by AlphaMensae

[AlphaMensae]

I just realized that I never took a screenshot of the whole Saturn V and mobile launcher assembly...so here it is with the crew arm attached

[AlphaMensae]

Tried out an alternate method to retract the arms:  animating them in Unity.  Eliniminates all sorts of setup and performance issues.  Works great too

 

The disadvantage is that the five arms that retract at liftoff will have to be action-grouped along with the launcher base decouple, instead of being staged.

 

 

[AlphaMensae]

Progress on the swing arms for the tower:  The service module (#8) and the two S-IVB arms (#7 and #6) are done.

VAB pic of the two S-IVB arrms:

 

Full-tower pic with the currently completed arms:

 

And a short launch demo of the three arms in action...I know, only three arms so far, but I just had to see how it looked.

 

[AlphaMensae]

Progress:  All the swing arms are done.

Short launch demo:

 

Also added the ground-access elevator to the mobile launcher base, now the full crew boarding procedure can be done, as seen in this test I did, using a simple crew van that I threw together for these kinds of tests.

Approaching the pad:

 

At the pad:

 

And the boarding demo (it's a little rough, this was the very first time I did this with the new launcher)

 

Next to do are the tail service masts (three of them around the flame hole, and they are not the same as the hold-down arms) and the hammerhead crane, plus various visual details (pipes, odd bits here and there).

 

[AlphaMensae]

Made the tail service masts:

 

And I only now realized that I had the colors on the F-1 fairings reversed, the result of using an alternate texture for the fairing that after doing more changes resulted in it not being needed...but forgetting to change the fairing, and not noticing it all this time.  Well, fixed that (as you can see above), and here:

[RaiderMan]

nice

[AlphaMensae]

The Saturn V and Mobile Launcher are getting close to release.  The last major component of the Launch Umbilical Tower (or just the tower), the hammerhead crane, is done.  It decouples and can rotate 360 degrees via a built-in reaction wheel (the "motor"   ).  I suppose a moving hoist trolley will be next, but not now.   Also various visual details have been added to the launcher base and tower, like the elevator blast shield, deck hatch panels, the major pipe group on the tower, and various bits in the tower representing equipment blocks.

Screenshot of the whole thing:

 

Hammerhead crane demo:

 

Short launch demo, to just after clearing the tower:

 

[AlphaMensae]

Dev progress update!  Not dead, just have been doing a lot of detail work to both both the Saturn V stages and the Mobile Launcher

Among the Saturn V details, umbilical plates have been added to the various stages of the Saturn V, as well as the Service Module.  I used a single generalized design for all of them, just at different sizes, plus a "hole" plate for large pipe inlets.  I also revised many of the swing arms, mainly at the umbilical connector end and placement of pipes/hoses.

Service Module (arms have been moved out a bit to show the plate, which is completely covered by the arm's umbilical connector(s) ):

Spoiler

 

S-IVB Forward and SLA/LM:

Spoiler

 

S-IVB Aft and S-II Forward:

Spoiler

 

S-II Intermediate and Aft, and S-IC Forward (S-II Aft arm was just for access, had no umbilical, just work platforms):

Spoiler

 

S-IC Aft:

Spoiler

 

How the arms normally look:

Spoiler

 

For the Mobile Launcher, the crew floor of the tower has gotten full collider coverage, so Kerbals can walk around the whole level.  Railings with colldiers have been put in as well:

Spoiler

 

Railings have been added to the launcher base as well:

Spoiler

 

And the final big thing, as a part of testing for a modular stand-alone version of the mobile launcher, separate animated hold-down arms:

 

Like the swing arms and tail service masts, the arm retraction and blast cover closing are done via a Unity animation, so they have to be added to a "Launch" action group that has the launcher base decouple, the five swing arms that retract at liftoff, and the tail service masts.

They worked well enough that I will include them in the Simple Overhaul version of the mobile launcher.

[shoe7ess]

Your'e quite the busy man Alpha, but I'm greatly looking forward to this project as it unfolds.

[AlphaMensae]

Thanks, and I will get back to this, though due to the standalone versions of the pads/towers getting a great reponse I'll continue developing them for now.

Also, that version of the pads forced me to consider early career mode use, as I had these visions of my Sputnik launch leaving my custom pad...whoops, it's too heavy!  Would have had to do something like this anyway