totm june 2018 Work-in-Progress [WIP] Design Thread

[Servo]

1.10's decals got me inspired to go back and up the detail on one of my favorites of my old builds: my F/A-18. My plan is to make custom flag decals for this one, but first I needed to update the craft itself.

Before:

After:

You'd be forgiven for thinking that nothing had changed, but there's a whole list of small changes that I've made that add up to generally cleaning up the craft, as well as lowering the part count slightly to allow for decals within the tight budget of 400 parts.

Landing gear is now in the right place, the vertical stabilizers were canted too far outwards and were too far forwards, the vertical stabilizer now has leading-edge black, slightly increased vertical stabilizer size, shortened nose slightly, cleaned up nose edge alignment, shortened strake, cleaned up strake interaction with boundary-layer divertor, leading-edge slats meet the wing cleaner, the sidewinder launch rails are cleaned up and simplified, black lines over the upper fuselage are aligned better, the intakes are cleaned up, rear fuselage has better blending to intakes, the tailhook is cleaned up and simplified, the pitot tubes and antennae are now more accurately shaped/positioned, and the underside of the fuselage is cleaned up too.

It's like a fresh coat of paint on your favorite car - a dozen small quibbles I had with this build are now gone, and now it's time to push it to a whole new level

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

7 hours ago, Servo said:

1.10's decals got me inspired to go back and up the detail on one of my favorites of my old builds: my F/A-18. My plan is to make custom flag decals for this one, but first I needed to update the craft itself.

Before:

After:

<snip>

It's like one of those "spot the differences" games that you find in magazines.    Try to find all the changes without reading the answers!

Edited July 2, 2020 by EpicSpaceTroll139

[david50517]

VTOL 3

Download Link: https://kerbalx.com/BlackRockStar/VTOL-3

Countdown timer

Download Link: https://kerbalx.com/BlackRockStar/Countdown-timer

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by david50517

[Servo]

On 7/2/2020 at 12:19 AM, EpicSpaceTroll139 said:

It's like one of those "spot the differences" games that you find in magazines.    Try to find all the changes without reading the answers!

Made quite a bit harder by the fact that half of the changes aren't visible in the image. Here's a fairer spot-the-differences for you

I got around to doing the flags today!

It was a bit of a chore to get right, especially because of the limited scaling between sizes of flags and the fact that I needed to restart KSP every time that I wanted to add or update flags. But oh boy was it worth the trouble.

The part count has crept up from 390 to 440, as I added some other fun details in addition to the decals. The drop tank is the most obvious, but I've also added other greebles such as various antenna blisters and the vortex generators in front of the cockpit. 

My goal is to push this to the limits of the pure stock game (no DLC here either) without going too far beyond the semi-reasonable part count that the build is currently at.

[tehmattguy]

Back again with yet another Soyuz variant! The new update gives us better control when building fairings, so I rebuilt all the fairings on my Soyuz to achieve a smoother and more accurate fuselage shape. I was also able to make use of the new decal parts to help complete the look.

Introducing Soyuz 7K-TM. This was a variant of the Soyuz 7K-T purpose-built for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. It carried a unique solar panel array and a new set of antennas to aid in communication with the Apollo spacecraft. It also carried an APAS-75 docking mechanism, which was a docking system co-developed by American and Soviet engineers for international missions. This system was unique in its time, since each port was functionally identical and androgynous, allowing either spacecraft to assume the active docking role. 

Next to the real deal.

In orbit with an *extremely* WIP Apollo spacecraft and docking module. The update also gave us this lovely metallic fairing texture which really helps recreate that Apollo aesthetic.  

Here you can see that the Soyuz has its docking ring extended for initial contact.

Contact. The APAS' guide petals intermesh, aligning the spacecraft. Then the docking rings latch onto each other, and the Soyuz retracts its ring to draw the ports closer.

Docked! The air pressure is then equalized between spacecraft, allowing crews to open the hatches and greet each other in the docking module. 

Right now the Soyuz is complete save for some detail work. Now for this project all I need to do is finish the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn IB... definitely easier said than done. I don't know how fast it'll shape up but I'd love to get something out by the ASTP launch anniversary.  

[pTrevTrevs]

21 hours ago, tehmattguy said:

Back again with yet another Soyuz variant! The new update gives us better control when building fairings, so I rebuilt all the fairings on my Soyuz to achieve a smoother and more accurate fuselage shape. I was also able to make use of the new decal parts to help complete the look.

Hey, it'd be real cool if you'd put up a tutorial on how you make those fold-out solar panels.

[Columbia]

This 1.10 update is one of my favorite ones so far. I can already see the craft aesthetics possibilities with the fairings and flags. Plus, the new color variants for the 2.5m tanks and the fuel lines allow for a lot.

Wanting to employ all these shiny new features, I decided to try and make a brand new B-17 that's accurate in relative size to the real thing, the only mod being Airplane Plus for the propellers (I can't stand static propellers that much anymore). It's astonishing how small these WW2 bombers really are when you see them in comparison to real life aircraft. Anyway, I think I'm pretty happy with the result.

There's a service bay I chucked under the aircraft which should have served as a bomb bay but because I can't find "bombs" that can fit and jettison properly yet, so the bay is really just for aesthetics for now. 

Also, let's be honest, why make a B-17 if you're not gonna fly a formation flight with them? 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Columbia

[problemecium]

I forgot this thread existed! I should share the rough draft I made for my latest Jool-5 Challenge effort. As with the ongoing Moho mission, I'm requiring the mothership to have a delta-V of at least 10km/s and a Kerbin-gravity TWR of at least 0.20, so to carry the roughly 100 tons of payload I need, it has to be very, very large:

Edited July 6, 2020 by problemecium
different image

[Yellowburn10]

(Edit to insert actual pictures and not just links)

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I first saw that new silver fairing design, my mind almost immediately went to "Starship." Well, with that and the addition of creating open fairings, I decided to give building it a shot. Here's my effort so far:

It's mainly the basic outline of the starship, with the dimentions being similar to the current design specs of the planned starship (I.E. 9m diameter, 50m height). It still needs polishing, but already it's looking pretty good. I'm working also on a super heavy booster to accomidate it. Basic length design really puts into perspective how big this thing is gonna be.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Yellowburn10
Inserting pictures

[Columbia]

Of all the airliners I've tried to replicate in KSP, the Boeing B777-300ER has been the one I've probably tried time and time again, never really being fully content with the result. However, after building and testing again and again, I'm putting the final touches on a version that I guess I can say I'm pretty proud of.

This is about as 1:1 scale as I can make it, and this is about the closest I've gotten to the real thing I think, so far. For something that looks relatively simple in construction though it boasts about 600 odd parts, mostly from the struts and set-ups that stop the thing from falling apart when breathed on. It's certainly very difficult to fly, as it's easy to overload the airframe through maneuvers and cause an explosion (not to mention infuriating lag), and it's pretty stubborn to control in general. I'm gonna keep trying to iron out the issues but this is pretty close to done. 

[Mikenike]

@Columbia, Please make a 737 or 787-10.

 

[Kerbalwerks]

Built this and working on something to haul it around that has higher speeds.

 

 

 

 

 

[Yukon0009]

@Columbia That looks good, you've really improved a lot over the years!

 

The Saturn V is ever-so nearer to achieving flight, the second stage now doesn't explode in flight.

[CalmLlama]

I made this ship, it's an MSTO, and has between 6 and 7k dv in LKO.  It flies okay, so long as you are careful, and it lands on some planets if you have a light enough touch... and I know how to fix the control and stability issues... but I haven't found a way to fix them without it looking bad.  

 

Flying in space

Landed on Duna

Refill and re-crew in orbit of Kerbin

Landed on Minmus

Crashed on Eeloo (ship's landing gear can't support the gravity)

[ShaggyTed]

The 3v3rDr0n3 (My first attempt at flight in other atmospheres)

So after quite a few endeavours now and a great transportable buggy I built for the last ship, I realized how slow exploring in a buggy is lol! So I have decided to make a science drone plane for other planets. Its untested in any atmosphere other than Kerbin but what I ended up with I was quite happy. Whether it will fly anywhere else is another question entirely lol Being on Ps4 I have to hope it works or it is gonna be a serious lesson learned and a waste of time Lol I also wanted to build it to be able to explore any atmosphere which meant turning it into a seaplane basically. So this is where I have gotten so far.......

The first iteration flew surprisingly well and weighed 12 tons but barely broke 200m/s and flew stable. The problem was learning what actually provided the best bouyancy because it could land but not reliably take back off from water, usually nosediving into the water and scattering itself at 60m/s. Eventually I made the pontoons from ncs and mk1 tanks.

At one point I even used pistons to elevate the plane above water but I still couldnt solve nosedive issue!

After several more attempts of redesigning the floats and trying to reduce drag this is the final version that flies incredibly well, and can take off from water or land at 45m/s with little  ontroller input and flaps deployed. The fit I had trying to get the prop rotations and pitches correct and finding best angles to set the Kals at was an absolute nightmare, almost made me regret going electric and prop Lol

I made a "reactor" for it in the first bay consisting of 24 rtgs with non scientist reset experiments and the kal1000's crammed in the back bay. Even used the barometric sensor to look like a cooler for it Lol I was even happy I managed to keep the weight down to less than 10t.

It took a lot of tinkering and struggling to keep drag down from all the equipment crammed in the bays. I even made a build that had the central fuselage built out of 2 fairings and Ibeams to reduce drag but that didnt work. After several days this final version I couldnt believe was more stable in flight and had a higher top speed than any version I had built at a very happy 252m/s! With the drag remaining and no easy way to reduce it, its all I could squeeze out of it.

Water performance is quite nice with even somehow managing to accidentally get it sitting just right, that the back props nip the water and can push it around at 5m/s in a trolling mode of sorts. It rides on the water at speeds of up to 60m/s before wanting to become airborne with flaps or about 100m/s without flaps deployed. Kinda fun but steer like a super tanker at thise speeds lol

The next step I am going to be working on will be a lifter. When i realized i would not be able to cram this into a fairing at 11m wide, I decided I will launch it from the moon. I mainly decided this because with no way to just hyperedit/telelort and test the craft on PS4 I am going to make this just a little bit easier.

Tomorrow I decide on where to take it, with Duna probably being the easiest choice and probably the most disappointing with its thin atmosphere. No idea if it generates enough lift or not even with a deployable flap design. Laythe and Jool I have only ever done flybys of so I have no idea of what to expect from trying.

So let me know your thoughts and if ya have any questions about the build ask away. I really wish console could upload craft so others could try it but alas this is the best I could do.

Fly safe y'all and keep the Kraken fed!!! 

 

[Yukon0009]

[JcoolTheShipbuilder]

WIP B9 HX capital ship, going to be an interstellar colonizer, it may be used in a To Boldly Go playthrough to leave the local star cluster, and explore the rest of a galaxy, but the construction is on hold due to a bizarre glitch with Ubio Welding LTD Cont. where when i try to weld a welded part into a ship, said part gets glitched out... the craft in the middle was the one i tried to weld, but the result is on the left... welp... i guess i may have to do it in Blender lol!

[Maxorin]

Almost-completed B777-8X.

Also an experiment using flags for liveries. It's proving to be quite annoying, but it's really nice.

Here's Boeing's unused burgundy livery, which frankly looks nicer than the typical blue house livery.

 

[Kerbalwerks]

 

Bought this from the Federation Bone Yard they said it was a good deal and a fixer upper, not sure if I got scammed or not/

[pTrevTrevs]

1 hour ago, Kerbalwerks said:

 

Bought this from the Federation Bone Yard they said it was a good deal and a fixer upper, not sure if I got scammed or not/

What's the serial number? If it's above 254000 it's probably one of the models built with outsourced chinesium parts. Nothing beats the classic Dinklestein manufacturing, but it's so hard to find these days.

[pTrevTrevs]

Testing shuttles in career mode is more monotonous than one would think. After all, I am air-launching it from the back of an airliner at cruising altitude and gliding it to a landing. If that don't put hair on your chest I reckon nothing will.

[kapteenipirk]

Man, so many millions of things to do and so little time.

Haven't really had any time to play ksp in the first place let alone time to upload stuff, hopefully that will change soon, so i can get to uploading the British fleet side of the WWII KNS project thingy, as there's some pretty exiting stuff going to be included in it.

There's also the UCS BF-109 that is ready to be uploaded.

Just really feel like prioritising my time on all the many model projects that need to be completed. Be prepared to get an update on the diorama project soon.

 

Speaking of models, here's a little something im planning on turning into a 3D-papermodel.

Dunno if im gonna get around to it tough, as it's not going to be easy, nor do i have too much time for that.

Weather or not that happens, the aircraft should make one hell of an addition to the US fleet side of things.

 

And here's something i don't really know if gonna upload it.

A more or less replica of the German Land-Wasser-Schlepper II (land-water-tractor) witch ended up being pretty sluggish on land and water, as-well as having little to no use.

I just found it really fascinating and wanted to create something similar.

[Phantomic]

please help me i'm building an entire plane bit by bit

oh and the engine's exhausts will fire in the correct firing order, as if i didnt have enough work already

[Yukon0009]

[david50517]

Helicopter Duna

Download Link: https://kerbalx.com/BlackRockStar/Helicopter-Duna