Cupcake's Dropship Dealership...

[The14th]

...and so the mission continues. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/dytOaLAKhqo

Nice That's certainly a novel solution - I can picture the call from Mission Control:

- "This is Mission Control. The lab boys have crunched some numbers down here, and we think your best bet is to ram your craft at speed, and try to knock some bits off...."

Looking forward to the next vid!

[Cupcake...]

Nice That's certainly a novel solution - I can picture the call from Mission Control:

- "This is Mission Control. The lab boys have crunched some numbers down here, and we think your best bet is to ram your craft at speed, and try to knock some bits off...."

Looking forward to the next vid!

Cheers! It is getting a bit Apollo 13 isn't it? I'll try and get the 5th and final part loaded tonight.

Cupcake...

[GarlandMP]

Funnily enough there are plans for a giant VTOL mothership. Watch this space.

Cupcake...

Yes, plans. ;]

[GarlandMP]

Nice That's certainly a novel solution - I can picture the call from Mission Control:

- "This is Mission Control. The lab boys have crunched some numbers down here, and we think your best bet is to ram your craft at speed, and try to knock some bits off...."

Looking forward to the next vid!

Actually, one of the space shuttle missions to repair and upgrade the Hubble Telescope had something similar-ish.

To replace various parts and circuit boards, they had to open up giant panels, and they have these massive hand-grab bars. Well, the astronauts could not get the panels closed, and after doing all of these hugely delicate replacement and upgrade procedures. Scientists and engineers are scratching their heads. Nobody knows what to do.

Finally, the astronaut physically holding onto this bar, waits until there is a brief communication blackout, breaks the bar off of the door they are trying to close, the doors close perfectly, like it up tight, good to go.

Job done.

-Garland

[CakeNinjaProductions]

Funnily enough there are plans for a giant VTOL mothership.

So.. what kind of mothership? One whitch a bunch of modules that flies to another planet and drops a bunch of base modules on it? Or one that's like the one from your Jool series, but better in every way? Or something else?

[Cupcake...]

So.. what kind of mothership? One whitch a bunch of modules that flies to another planet and drops a bunch of base modules on it? Or one that's like the one from your Jool series, but better in every way? Or something else?

The second, "...better in every way." one.

Cupcake...

[Wooks]

Hey Cupcake, you can see my refurbished VTOL int he first scenes of this short video.

Scanning the inner workings of the QUEEN BEE I learned that my old Flatbed VTOL "HERMES" had the correct ammount of fuel but was using the wrong engines and not enough intakes. The previous peak speed was 350m/s at a cruising altitude of 12/15k meters. Now with those minimal changes (and whithout a booster stage) it goes at a searing, scorching, properly flammable, skin melting and very satisfying max speed of 1.250m/s over 20k meters, and fuel efficiency jumped by a factor of 3 withouth even touching my fuel tanks configuration, it can fly from the Space Center to the North Pole with ease (one way trip).

The only part clipping I used was the one the default game allowed me to sneak in, I may fool around with serious part clipping in the future when I feel confident enough.

The more you know, eh? Thanks for the lesson dude, keep the awesome work.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Wooks

[Cupcake...]

Hey Cupcake, you can see my refurbished VTOL int he first scenes of this short video.

http://youtu.be/KuKs9BO6KqE

Scanning the inner workings of the QUEEN BEE I learned that my old Flatbed VTOL "HERMES" had the correct ammount of fuel but was using the wrong engines and not enough intakes. The previous peak speed was 350m/s at a cruising altitude of 12/15k meters. Now with those minimal changes (and whithout a booster stage) it goes at a searing, scorching, properly flammable, skin melting and very satisfying max speed of 1.250m/s over 20k meters, and fuel efficiency jumped by a factor of 3 withouth even touching my fuel tanks configuration, it can fly from the Space Center to the North Pole with ease (one way trip).

The only part clipping I used was the one the default game allowed me to sneak in, I may fool around with serious part clipping in the future when I feel confident enough.

The more you know, eh? Thanks for the lesson dude, keep the awesome work.

Cool! I'll have a look at the video this eve, it's amazing the difference a few intakes will make. I love the concept of making a VTOL low loader, great idea!

Oh and while I'm here I'd just like to share with you the final part of my little Jool outing, I hope you enjoy it.

Cupcake...

Edited February 14, 2014 by Cupcake...

[Cranium]

How in the world do you get those shots of your crafts coming in for a landing or leaving, without having the camera focused on that craft? For that matter, now do you control two Kerbals at once?

[GarlandMP]

How in the world do you get those shots of your crafts coming in for a landing or leaving, without having the camera focused on that craft? For that matter, now do you control two Kerbals at once?

I believe he uses a mod called KerbCam for the filming, which allows you to set a frame reference (i.e., your ship), and if you look closely, both of the Kerbals don't actually move at the same time. When they do, they are attached to ships that have MechJeb, doing the controlling, but that's not to say there isn't a lot of the piloting done by hand, which there is.

[Cupcake...]

How in the world do you get those shots of your crafts coming in for a landing or leaving, without having the camera focused on that craft? For that matter, now do you control two Kerbals at once?

It's actually a mixture of voodoo and telepathy.

You don't believe me do you? Okay fine, it's just an old film trick, if you look closely you can see where the videos been cropped. As Garland pointed out Kerbcam lets you control vessels while the view is fixed elsewhere, very handy!

Cupcake...

Edited February 14, 2014 by Cupcake...

[The14th]

Oh and while I'm here I'd just like to share with you the final part of my little Jool outing, I hope you enjoy it.

I loved this! Especially the slalom with the Push-me-pull-you space bike!

All in all a great series of vids.

.... and if you look closely, both of the Kerbals don't actually move at the same time. When they do, they are attached to ships that have MechJeb, doing the controlling,

I think Cranium means the bit at 2:50 where there are two Kerbals on foot moving at the same time. I'm scratching my head over that one... my money is on DARK MAGIC....

EDIT: Cupcake's super fast replying skills render my last paragraph pointless! Oh well

[Cranium]

...and if you look closely, both of the Kerbals don't actually move at the same time...

Ah, but look at 2:50, they are both walking at the same time.

EDIT: Cupcake's super fast replying skills render my last paragraph pointless! Oh well

GAH! HE NINJA'D US BOTH!!!

[GarlandMP]

It's actually a mixture of voodoo and telepathy.

You don't believe me do you? Okay fine, it's just an old film trick, if you look closely you can see where the videos been cropped. As Garland pointed out Kerbcam lets you control vessels while the view is fixed elsewhere, very handy!

Cupcake...

Having said that, I don't want to take away at all the brilliance of your videos. Just because the tools exist doesn't mean they create the art for you.

Artistry isn't just having the vision, it's also having the ability to use the tools to properly express your vision.

-Garland

[The14th]

GAH! HE NINJA'D US BOTH!!!

I know, right!?

You know I forgot to mention that this just goes to show what an awesome little ship the Tadpole is. It's been a little eclipsed recently by Cupcake's newer advanced designs, but the Tadpole will always be one of my favourites!

[CakeNinjaProductions]

1) What recording and editing software do you use? Mine doesn't allow cropping.

2) How did you do that shot at 3:20?

3) What's that ship at 6:10? Is that engine in the middle stock?

[Cupcake...]

I know, right!?

You know I forgot to mention that this just goes to show what an awesome little ship the Tadpole is. It's been a little eclipsed recently by Cupcake's newer advanced designs, but the Tadpole will always be one of my favourites!

I think there's always gonna be a place for the Tadpole!

1) What recording and editing software do you use? Mine doesn't allow cropping.

2) How did you do that shot at 3:20?

3) What's that ship at 6:10? Is that engine in the middle stock?

Let's see...

1) I use Fraps for capturing and Premier CS5 for editing.

2) I'll give you a clue, it's done using the items I had at the landing site.

3) That ship is the Equinox, the newest vessel to roll of the line, and yes it's all stock. Hope this helps!

Cupcake...

Edited February 15, 2014 by Cupcake...

[Immashift]

So I've loved these ships for a while, and decided to try and create one in likeness of the minnow from the ground up myself.

I'm trying to make it reach orbit on its own, with the help of a couple droptanks.

Now the piping in this image is messy, it's a WIP so I didn't care much about aesthetics. But there's this one problem I can't figure out.

Either I'm doing something really dumb, or it's just not pumping the fuel right.

Basically I want the fuel feeding from the outer tanks in, in symmetry. But if you look at the screenshot, the two rear tanks still drain out of themselves instead of the droptanks.

The front ones are fine for some odd reason, but the rear ones refuse to drain from the droptanks.

If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong tell me

I realize it also has the balance problem once it's down to the center tank. I'll fix that later. I may use a lander can with two center tanks, one front and rear.

Anyway this thing has reached orbit as is, but I have a lot of stuff to cram on it yet so I'd love the droptanks to actually be droptanks Right now they stay with it till orbit injection because they don't drain properly

Cupcake I'd love to know how you're getting the droptank fuel to plumb into the system without lines. Probably just a mechanic I'm oblivious to lol.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Immashift

[Giggleplex777]

I think you attach a fuel line from the vehicle's docking port to the vehicle's tanks. Any new tanks docked to the docking port will drain in to the vehicle's tanks (attach it to the short center tanks in your case). Also, check your fuel lines to see if they are going the right direction. The first end you put on is where the fuel drains from and the second end is where the fuel goes.

If you still can't fix it, send me the .craft file and I'll see what I can do.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Giggleplex777

[Immashift]

I think you attach a fuel line from the vehicle's docking port to the vehicle's tanks. Any new tanks docked to the docking port will drain in to the vehicle's tanks (attach it to the short center tanks in your case). Also, check your fuel lines to see if they are going the right direction. The first end you put on is where the fuel drains from and the second end is where the fuel goes.

If you still can't fix it, send me the .craft file and I'll see what I can do.

Thank you! I never knew you could do that. I thought it was just some inherent function of the ports I was ignoring.

EDIT: On testing it's still draining incorrectly. It's like it's treating the rear tanks like a rocket and draining the stack before moving to the front, even with the lines.

Gonna mess with it a bit more before I give up and make it available.

EDIT2: So I gave up and redesigned the entire thing. This works a lot better.... However.... I think I need more struts

Edited February 15, 2014 by Immashift

[Cupcake...]

Thank you! I never knew you could do that. I thought it was just some inherent function of the ports I was ignoring.

EDIT: On testing it's still draining incorrectly. It's like it's treating the rear tanks like a rocket and draining the stack before moving to the front, even with the lines.

Gonna mess with it a bit more before I give up and make it available.

EDIT2: So I gave up and redesigned the entire thing. This works a lot better.... However.... I think I need more struts

http://i.imgur.com/ECOihVE.jpg

Wow, she does look a bit bendy! Glad you've sorted the fuel feeding problems, if you have any more trouble let me know.

Cupcake...

Edited February 16, 2014 by Cupcake...

[Immashift]

The bendiness was just a strut problem I hate struts. Like really I do. All they do is up the part count, especially when you need high symmetry to make it stable. Also I absolutely hate the look a strut or a decoupler leaves when it goes. The little end points on the tank it was attached to I mean. I think reloading occasionally gets rid of them, but that's one of the reasons I like to do droptanks with docking ports. It also makes them reusable.

The plan with this thing is to make it as modular as possible. Like I won't even take RCS down to the surface of whatever I'm at. Or if I do it'll be as one of those RCS tugs I need to blatantly copy off your videos So when I get back to the transfer ship, I'll take the tugs, dock one at each end, and move it around with them

I'll be doing parachute modules too, since they just add weight going to the mun or wherever.

I'm using a lot of mods, but I wanted to keep this as stock as I could in terms of performance. I'm using B9 landing gear for two reasons: It's powered and steerable, which means the WHOLE THING is a rover, and they're only like 130 in weight each, whereas the stock wheels are silly heavy at 500 each. Also using some B9 lighting because it looks nice

I'm half tempted to try sticking some Rapiers on the back ports, put wings on the side ones and front, and see if I can make it fly around as a plane too. Swiss army dropship?

Edited February 16, 2014 by Immashift

[Cupcake...]

The bendiness was just a strut problem I hate struts. Like really I do. All they do is up the part count, especially when you need high symmetry to make it stable. Also I absolutely hate the look a strut or a decoupler leaves when it goes. The little end points on the tank it was attached to I mean. I think reloading occasionally gets rid of them, but that's one of the reasons I like to do droptanks with docking ports. It also makes them reusable.

The plan with this thing is to make it as modular as possible. Like I won't even take RCS down to the surface of whatever I'm at. Or if I do it'll be as one of those RCS tugs I need to blatantly copy off your videos So when I get back to the transfer ship, I'll take the tugs, dock one at each end, and move it around with them

I'll be doing parachute modules too, since they just add weight going to the mun or wherever.

I'm using a lot of mods, but I wanted to keep this as stock as I could in terms of performance. I'm using B9 landing gear for two reasons: It's powered and steerable, which means the WHOLE THING is a rover, and they're only like 130 in weight each, whereas the stock wheels are silly heavy at 500 each. Also using some B9 lighting because it looks nice

I'm half tempted to try sticking some Rapiers on the back ports, put wings on the side ones and front, and see if I can make it fly around as a plane too. Swiss army dropship?

http://i.imgur.com/jEZVIWS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/V0HY7za.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/VHoc6M3.jpg

Looking good! Be cool to see more pics once you start doing missions. What are you gonna call her?

Cupcake...

[Immashift]

Looking good! Be cool to see more pics once you start doing missions. What are you gonna call her?

Cupcake...

I'm unsure really, if you have any suggestions feel free Then I can slap "endorsed by Cupcake..." on the tank somewhere.

I'll be doing images at least, maybe even videos once I get it all set up I think.

Also, this happened, and I laughed for two minutes straight when it actually took off:

The fun part is it's fully modular. Can take the wings off as soon as it gets up in space.

It's literally a space-multitool.

[Cupcake...]

I'm unsure really, if you have any suggestions feel free Then I can slap "endorsed by Cupcake..." on the tank somewhere.

I'll be doing images at least, maybe even videos once I get it all set up I think.

Also, this happened, and I laughed for two minutes straight when it actually took off:

The fun part is it's fully modular. Can take the wings off as soon as it gets up in space.

http://i.imgur.com/FkxhC4o.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XgeIlqO.jpg

It's literally a space-multitool.

That's great! I tried making one of those for my dropships once but I'm so bad at planes I just gave up!

Cupcake...