Multi-Hull Spacecraft Designs and other Exotic Concepts

[Techpriest93]

Alright, I have seen plenty of cool and practical space stations and interplanetary craft. But for all my google searching I have yet to find a thread with ships that I am searching for. So I decided to create such a thread. Now I want to see the wild and unusual designs, that still look like spaceships, but look like they came from sci-fy genres or from ships here on earth! And of course, because everything built out of stock parts is more impressive, I would like to see those!

Preferably if like 90% or more of your ship is stock. That ballpark figure basically means you can have a few modded pieces, but the core and superstructure of the craft is mostly sane/stock. Don't try to double your fuel capacity by clipping tanks into each-other, let the ships be big!

And if you don't have a multi-hulled spacecraft to share, show exotic looking ones instead! Asymmetrical ones, or crafts with lounges inside of them for kerbals to sit and play space billiards while transiting to Duna! Pictures please!

[Azimech]

You could take a look in my topic (see signature), there you'll find download links to most of them. 100% stock.

[Rune]

Multi-hull, huh? You mean like this?

The Medusa Class Transport, probably the most complicated mothership I won't build again. The lag is just too great! I might try something similar, with a lower part count.

Rune. But it sure gave awesome screenshots.

[Techpriest93]

"Aizmech

You could take a look in my topic (see signature), there you'll find download links to most of them. 100% stock."

Will do.

Multi-hull, huh? You mean like this?

The Medusa Class Transport, probably the most complicated mothership I won't build again. The lag is just too great! I might try something similar, with a lower part count.

Rune. But it sure gave awesome screenshots.

Not quite, but I have seen those before. They look pretty cool with the planes docked to the center spire. Perhaps my favorite ship of yours was that destroyer. Too many parts, but amazing how it could reassemble itself! Loved the design and athletics of it. I think I had remade it with about 150 less parts but no self assembly, just to have a squadron tethered together with KAS. But that was back then before my laptop needed to be reformatted and the graphics adapter actually worked. Now I can only use intel graphics.

Stupid switchable graphics...

Alright, these are really old screens, and back before this computer died on me the 2nd time.

Rune,

Loved the destroyer and the easy launch system! Thanks for that!

Brought two of them into a DarkMultiplayer game, someone took the other one and we dueled in LKO. Missed or bounced most of the missles, hard to hit a target thats jinking and juking (But also so much cooler!). No problems with phase through missiles, all the hits did moderate to light damage, and in the end we were both able to go to the mun.

I tried my hand at destroyer making, for smaller craft I can actually complete! Ended up making a corvette, tad smaller than a destroyer and designed to be landed on a low-gravity body or docked at a space station or mother ship. Basically an in-system craft, to patrol a body and its moons.

Ah yes, if I remember correctly it had a crew of 2, and the nose could separate and serve as an escape/life boat for one of the 2 crew members. Ah, a pic of the craft sailing gracefully through the atmosphere, with no staging problems whatsoever... right. Obviously it was never intended to BE a plane, the lifting surfaces are scattered all over making GETTING to orbit a pain in the neck. They were ment to be lightweight armor, to deflect small torpedoes. The design philosophy was "well, its too small to survive an SRB hit due to its light weight, so why bother armoring it to take one?" Also, if they are using SRB's on corvettes, then either my capital ships are dead, the caps will be fine, or they just have most of their ships mass in weapons. These are made to decimate fighter screens without taking much damage in return, and to be lightweight and a high TWR to outrun and flee from any larger ships. I liked the design, and I am sad that I never fixed the aerodynamics issue to get it into orbit. The wings are actually just their to be RCS points and to mount larger weapons if needed in the future. And to look good. (that was the main reason )

Here are some other ships from that time period, back on my science career mode and in a separate sandbox save.

Small ship, but I really like the design of the dual booms to hold all the scientific tools.

This isn't multi-hulled to my standards, but I wanted to share it all the same. I think it was my first time landing on the mun, where previously I just went straight for minmus. Cause it's easier. As you can see it has plenty of scienctific intruments in its core, that the kerbal will grab and stow in the capsule, because it will leave the body of it behind on the mun like apollo did. At least, that was the plan, as I had probably over engineered this. Also I was playing "career" and capitalism had not yet been implemented. So I didn't have solar panels unlocked, and I didnt care about the ship cost.

Oh yeah, I didn't have lights either.

Or RCS for that matter.

If I remember correctly, really expensive scientific radar work GREAT as big springs, and by toggling which engines fire by manually clicking them on and off, I was able to flip the thing and fly home. Turns out I could deorbit all of it cause I had PLENTY of fuel left in the tanks. Ah, over-engineering at its finest!

Then, when I decided to just download ALL the mods, I said "to hell with career mode!" and went full sandbox and made all the things.

BUT I realized that mods make it either too easy, or are just an enabler to by-pass design problems and don't make you a better ship builder. For example, the double core cruiser design would of worked out great, if I didn't keep trying to add stuff to it. That colony ship which was planned to have a recreational area on top, I could never complete that. Much less get it into orbit. It was freaking massive, and I didnt know how to finish it off. The last series of pictures, the B9 parts allowed me to double the length of the pocket carrier with less than 30 parts added. I am proud of the Pocket carrier, as it was the closest to completion before I axed the project because I lost interest. It had a smaller than planned hanger bay, but had an amazing interior with crew bunks, access to the flight control located in the hanger's roof and the cockpit, with 2 airlocks for disembarking! I was really proud of my first spaceship with space that kerbals could move around in.

Now, taking inspiration from these modded crafts, I plan on building an unmodded pocket carrier like the last, but with a PLANNED design and not a "make it up as you go" attitude that I normally do. I want it to act like the Aegis from Hatbat's series, as in it can preform a variety of rolls, but be sleeker, less focus on armor and guns and more focus on utility, and support.

Using designs from all ships posted above, I want it to have a tall, not fat, hull, using the winged plates as I get more coverage per part, and will get a shining white look that I can use floodlights to change the color of.

I will include an interior, with hitchhiker cans to be used as bunk rooms, and make some furnishings like a very tiny mess hall next to them. I will use the science lab as the airlock to the hanger bay underneath like the aegis drop pod bay, as it is the only object in the game with 2 doors. I will need to part clip regretfully to get the doors right, but it is a necessary thing for the rule of cool. I also plan on making a tube from their to lead to the bridge.

I love the new hanger bays, and will try to incorporate them to save part and lag cost! And if anyone is wondering, I was asking about multi-hulls because I am drawing a lot of my inspiration from this:

[Spartwo]

Macey dean

>was shameless plug<

Kerbal Military

Arcadia Industries

United Kerbal Space Command

Comrade's Spare Parts

Imperial Zokesian Shipyards

Spiritwolf Hanland Submissions

BluPlanet Military Innovations

AlTi AD inc

Project Genesis

KIDI

KIDA

Dark Star Industries

daeCorp

Old UNSK

Jaeger Industries

Thunderbolt Industries

MLAS-Celestial Warfare

The-Mechani Union Advanced

New Zokesia Skunkworks

HatBat's Military Series Ship Submissions

Reacher Industries

Rune's Skunkworks

Trafalgar.co

K.R.K.N

The Imperial Tahei Organization Image Heavy

KATEC

Halco Industries

Ten Characters

[Azimech]

I see some very beautiful builds in this topic!

[Rune]

snip

Wow, thanks! And glad to see I got you inspired and even gave a couple of hours of fun with that modular Destroyer... it reminds me how outdated my military ship collection is! And yeah,I also built the Aegis from Hatbat's series, so I guess you really like my stuff, thank you! It's really rewarding when I hear that someone remembers one of my ships and the amount of fun it inspired. Especially if it inspired further builds of your own!

As to that big frigate you are building (I call it frigate because of the multi-task abilities, call it a cruiser if frigate sounds whimpy), it sounds like you have a nice idea already. Just a hint that could look cool, maybe: do a heavy, slim center body with the fuel and engines, and then put two cargo bays on the sides and in front to get the multiple hulls. That would look good I think, and if you do things right, both bays should be accessible from a single lab module on the middle. A central, slimmer and higher command hull with the crew space would be protected by both cargo bays, and then you have four distinct sections like the ship in the last picture. Makes me want to try it myself! But I'll let you have at it while I polish about a gazillion unfinished designs...

Rune. I guess I have enough with keeping R-SUV updated! The skunkworks were always a secondary thing... that I still love to do every now and then.

[Redrobin]

Is this what you are looking for?

[Techpriest93]

Wow, thanks! And glad to see I got you inspired and even gave a couple of hours of fun with that modular Destroyer... it reminds me how outdated my military ship collection is! And yeah,I also built the Aegis from Hatbat's series, so I guess you really like my stuff, thank you! It's really rewarding when I hear that someone remembers one of my ships and the amount of fun it inspired. Especially if it inspired further builds of your own!

As to that big frigate you are building (I call it frigate because of the multi-task abilities, call it a cruiser if frigate sounds whimpy), it sounds like you have a nice idea already. Just a hint that could look cool, maybe: do a heavy, slim center body with the fuel and engines, and then put two cargo bays on the sides and in front to get the multiple hulls. That would look good I think, and if you do things right, both bays should be accessible from a single lab module on the middle. A central, slimmer and higher command hull with the crew space would be protected by both cargo bays, and then you have four distinct sections like the ship in the last picture. Makes me want to try it myself! But I'll let you have at it while I polish about a gazillion unfinished designs...

Rune. I guess I have enough with keeping R-SUV updated! The skunkworks were always a secondary thing... that I still love to do every now and then.

Is this what you are looking for?

http://i.imgur.com/hRaKkFK.png

Oh, remember rune, those images were ones that I had salvaged from my steam cloud, if you check the time stamps I think they are from April 2014 or something. But back then they were state of the art and top of the line! All the ships I linked too have been lost, the images may provide people with inspiration for their own designs, like seeing these again had inspired me. I would like to think that I have grown in knowledge a lot sense April, and that I can build something better than these old designs. And not use any weapons mods, these things have enough to worry about already. Plus replacing ships is costly!

Also, redrobin, that looks very cool! wow!

Alright, starting out, I have a basic banana shape

Alright, I hope you can see what I mean about using the Science Lab as an airlock of sorts. It will allow kerbals from the hitchhiker cans on the upper deck to travel down into the bay, AND the science lab does a very convincing flight control.

The power of offset is amazing! Thank you squad for these awesome editor tools! the cans were sticking up too high, and that fixed them! Just a little shout-out of appreciation!

I think I might need to extend the hull, don't want it to look all cartoony and short.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Techpriest93
To edit

[Redrobin]

I also got a "slimmed down" version:

[Techpriest93]

As to that big frigate you are building (I call it frigate because of the multi-task abilities, call it a cruiser if frigate sounds whimpy), it sounds like you have a nice idea already. Just a hint that could look cool, maybe: do a heavy, slim center body with the fuel and engines, and then put two cargo bays on the sides and in front to get the multiple hulls. That would look good I think, and if you do things right, both bays should be accessible from a single lab module on the middle. A central, slimmer and higher command hull with the crew space would be protected by both cargo bays, and then you have four distinct sections like the ship in the last picture. Makes me want to try it myself! But I'll let you have at it while I polish about a gazillion unfinished designs...

Don't worry, I have an idea for smaller frigates already. They will have 1-2 escape pods/shuttles, a small bay in the back for the servicing and management of 1 fighter (including spare ammo and fuel), a crew of 3-5, and guided weapons for fighter defense. This simply will be much bigger, and fuction more like a command ship, so I am calling it a pocket carrier, because it's not a full fledged carrier design like Macy Deans Spiritwolf. And if I ever do get better hardware so I can record things at <15 fps, I will make a series about it.

The main difference is it would be a battle where one sides cap is around a mun and the other is around another object, and fighters and torpedo drones are sent out to intercept each-other and duke it out in the middle. That way, named ships stick around and people might come to recognize them, and losses would be individual kerbals and their fighters. Also, once one side runs out of ammunition, they would back off and forfeit the space to the other side. I disapprove of 1 hit kill missiles that people make, and think that the design of the ships shouldn't be JUST around weapon load-outs and armor.

Anyways, I will keep updating my post on the progress I have made on this ship, decided to move my steam cloud images to imgur for albums!

Javascript is disabled. View full album

The first few photos were me messing with tables and how to make the front of my ship. Then I made a rec hall, complete with a table + chairs, an intake trash chute or something, a box of snacks (not a protected solar panel), a computer/tablet/display on the table (not a solar panel either ), a fridge/food storage system (not a inline docking port), and a fighter simulator like the ones used in the X-wing books from the 1990's (basic pod). It also boasts full body massages, virtual reality experiences, surround sound, video and media player, and much more! (does not do much more).

Those two images of the ram intakes were an idea of a shower/tele-porter or something, but decided I didn't like the idea of tele-porters and that they would have a refresher unit in their hitchhiker cans.

Maybe someone else can do something cool and exciting with that idea!

Yeah, the cans have 2 bunks, a card table, lockers for clothes and personal items, and a refresher unit (toilet, shower, and sink basically). They have room for 4, but in my kerbal universe, they are ideally made for 2.

The lander can in the front is not the bridge, that will be above and behind it, and I was thinking of using the same layout that the helicopter guys use for their cockpits. its a backup bridge, and maybe if I cant afford the part count, it will be the main bridge, but for now its their because I though it might look good. And their is a tunnel from it to the crew quarters!

Just realized that I could use 2 CRG-04's facing opposite directions as a lift and airlock. But its too bulky! I wish there was a CRG-02 or a CRG-01 to use as small compact airlocks that would be nice.

Anyway, the main hull is slowly coming together, will need to start on the 2 other ones soon, they will be where the fighters and fighter ammo is docked to. Might want to make them detachable to allow for their replacements encase of battle damage, but only if it doesn't balloon the part cost.

Sweet, i think that worked! Anyways, progress is slow due to classes in the mornings and evenings.

Edit, not working. I don't know how to make it work either. First time dealing with imgur.

EDIT: thanks spartwo

Edited February 5, 2015 by Techpriest93
Update

[Spartwo]

[ Imgur ] MtS02 [ / Imgur ]

No spaces.

[Techpriest93]

Oh. thanks! +1

Alright, wrote a few paragraphs in the post above, describing what you see.

Helicopters!

I love this guys cockpits and would ideally like to put a smaller one on the top of my ship... But I need to build more ship first!

Edited February 5, 2015 by Techpriest93

[Frozen_Heart]

Not multi hull but most definitely Sci-fi!

The Co-24 Centurion Class Corvette

[Sampa]

Currently designing a massive tug, to be built in orbit, for another member of the company I'm in...pictures to come...

[Spartwo]

Not multi hull but most definitely Sci-fi!

The Co-24 Centurion Class Corvette

http://i.imgur.com/lbM29CA.png

Gib .craft.

[Techpriest93]

Not multi hull but most definitely Sci-fi!

The Co-24 Centurion Class Corvette

http://i.imgur.com/lbM29CA.png

heh, your naming system reminds me of a Comrade Jenkins back on the war forms when I was known as STC or Solar Trade Confederacy. Life moved on, and I lost interest cause sandbox things can never grip me for long, so I let the account die, and now I am reborn like a phoenix! And with this 0.90 update and more capitalism, I am actually invested!

His (or her) designs were really cool and were one of the reasons why I wanted to keep my modded craft mostly stock. In fact, now that I don't have 20+ mods installed, I'm going ALL stock! Thinking about taking a quick break from this large ship and trying my hand at a small frigate role like I described to Rune above.

Also, give me your .craft! I neeeeeeeeeeds it Also I want to take it apart and see what you did.

[Levelord]

Do you accept small interceptors?

[Speeding Mullet]

This was an 894 part monster that was mostly stock apart from a few Kethane bits.

STATS:

Total Ship Mass on Departure: 284 T

Total Part Count on Departure: 894 - bad times

Crew: 28

Central Living quarters

Detachable heat shield

1 Jool impactor probe

1 Jool satellite

4 sub orbital hoppers

4 communication and kethane scanning satellites

2 robot RCS vehicles

Kethane mining and rover/base drop ship

4 two man rovers, each with 2 detachable science packages

4 four man bases for the Joolian moons (apart from Tylo)

1 Laythe jet plane

1 Tylo lander and return vehicle

1 Mobile Lab

1 Jool space station

1 Return to Kerbin ferry (main ship and drop ship stay in high Jool orbit to service remaining crew and moon bases)

Main thread here

This is one of the albums selected for best views of the (very) complex ship. For a sense of scale the tanks by the SIXTEEN ATOMIC ROCKET MOTORS are the large orange jobbies.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Interestingly I originally tried to launch it as one big lump:

[Yukon0009]

You want double hull? I give you double hull.

[Frozen_Heart]

Ok here's the Link: Not sure how up to date it is though...

http://bit.ly/1DM2GUk

And here is a pic of the main gun firing!

[Techpriest93]

Ok here's the Link: Not sure how up to date it is though...

http://bit.ly/1DM2GUk

And here is a pic of the main gun firing!

http://i.imgur.com/mGnliyj.png

Sweet, thanks! Also, is that an image of a critical failure, or is that normal? Seems like lots of explosions, if you ask me!

[Spartwo]

Stack separator being flung into the missile behind it, it's normal.

[Frozen_Heart]

Stack separator being flung into the missile behind it, it's normal.

^ Yep this. I use stack separators as they explode and make this cool effect.

[Techpriest93]

Do you accept small interceptors?

http://i.imgur.com/hY9kX0X.jpg

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

Well, i mean it looks cool, but I was looking for space born craft. There are millions of threads filled with planes. Maybe make a twin hulled plane like some crazy ww2 designs, and then I'll be really intrigued!

I do like how compact it is. Would you say that a craft from LKO would be able to release 2 or 3 and they could desend into the atmosphere under their own power? Or is the part count too high to have 2-3 + carrier to work?

This was an 894 part monster that was mostly stock apart from a few Kethane bits.

STATS:

Total Ship Mass on Departure: 284 T

Total Part Count on Departure: 894 - bad times

Crew: 28

Central Living quarters

Detachable heat shield

1 Jool impactor probe

1 Jool satellite

4 sub orbital hoppers

4 communication and kethane scanning satellites

2 robot RCS vehicles

Kethane mining and rover/base drop ship

4 two man rovers, each with 2 detachable science packages

4 four man bases for the Joolian moons (apart from Tylo)

1 Laythe jet plane

1 Tylo lander and return vehicle

1 Mobile Lab

1 Jool space station

1 Return to Kerbin ferry (main ship and drop ship stay in high Jool orbit to service remaining crew and moon bases)

Main thread here

This is one of the albums selected for best views of the (very) complex ship. For a sense of scale the tanks by the SIXTEEN ATOMIC ROCKET MOTORS are the large orange jobbies.

http://imgur.com/a/D05Pw

Interestingly I originally tried to launch it as one big lump:

http://i.imgur.com/nbGA63Fl.png

http://i.imgur.com/P1dIzjtl.png

Wow, that is quite the mothership! *whistles*.

so, thats 25 separate ships in total? or am I misinterpreting things?

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah315/Yukon0009/screenshot15070_zpscucl3htv.png

You want double hull? I give you double hull.

Amazing. Just like Galaga.