Crossposting from the worldbuilding thread.
Large spacecraft in the Carpaverse - Spinewheeler variants (civilian and military)
A long time ago, years ago, I posted some specifics on larger
Carpaverse spacecraft, including so-called
"spinewheeler" designs. Since then, I was a bit annoyed that I haven't really done more spacecraft designs for the setting, beyond that one civilian example I posted back then, so I've decided to show a few more variants of that sort of spacecraft.
Spinewheeler modular variants by use (Carpanonian Star Commonwealth examples)
The basic spacecraft is in essence the same production model, but it's been modified for a variety of different roles thanks to a modular cargo-bearing approach.
Container vessel (civilian shipping) - simple civilian spinewheeler, with two attachment areas carrying cargo containers, each container with a maximum length of 100 m.
Container vessel (military support) - cargo support ship (supply carrier) for the Carpanonian fleet, with the smaller containers replaced with various point defence systems and their command centers.
Fightercraft carrier - among military spinewheelers, the closest analogy to a space-bound aircraft carrier. Carries not only manned and unmanned space fighters, but all manner of smaller manned and unmanned combat-oriented spacecraft. Same basic network of point defence system modules, cargo container replaced with hangar pods. Each hangar pod has spacious and armoured hangar bay doors and point defence systems of its own.
Assault carrier - among military spinewheelers, the closest analogy to an amphibious warfare ship. Effectivelly a dropship carrier, with each large dropship - or
TLADS - capable of carrying hundreds of troops and tens of vehicles from orbit to a planetary surface and back. TLADS loadouts and troop numbers are mission-specific. Basic network of point defence system modules, though in a different configuration due to a different docking frame specialised for the needs of the dropships.
Combination carrier - as its name implies, a hybrid of the two major carrier types. This specimen has TLADS dropships at the front docking area and fightercraft hangar pods at the rear attachment area.
None of the above are combat ships in the strict sense, as even the military versions are armed primarily for their own defence, not for a direct attack on adversarial spacecraft.
Extendable heat radiators are particularly valuable to military spinewheelers, as defensive combat situations or auxilliary ship deployment by carriers consumes a fair amount of energy, generating even more heat than regular spacecraft operations.
The cargo versions can be classified as LCFs (Large Commercial Freighter), heavy interplanetary freighters with added FTL jump drive capability, hauling cargo containers. The civilian cargo versions in particular would be some of the largest commercial starship types used by the Carpanonian Star Commonwealth, under license by the Hansa and
NABIT (Navigational Astronautics Bureau for Imperial Trade). Bear in mind that Carpanonia is more of a mid-importance star nation and space power, so there might be even bigger ships of this type, civilian as well as military, among the other human-dominated polities.
General overview of each basic spinewheeler
The front end is on the left, dominated by a conical, dual-function deflector-and-ramscoop (the ramscoop a backup). This is followed by an X-grid of pillars further down the spine, with each pillar containing a braking thruster nacelle. The main, huge thruster nacelle is at the back end of the ship, on the right. It houses a total of 8 thrusters, while the smaller and less powerful nacelles at the front end each contain 2 thrusters. RCS thrusters for fine manoeuvreing dot the entirety of the vessel, but they're generally too small to see on this visualisation. The ship has a total of 8 main heat radiators, plus a myriad of smaller ones. As already noted, the radiators are extendable to various lengths, depending on the energy produced by the ship and the amount of heat needing to be vented. On-board gravity is strongest in and around the part of the ship with the spinning wheel. Most of the living quarters, hangar bays, workshops and various command centres are concentrated into this single section. The ship also features 3 shielding plates in various crucial segments of its fairly thin, spine-like hull.
Author's note
This isn't the final image or chart I'll make of these. Far from it. This is just the beginning of me expanding upon these technical details. Apologies for a lack of colours in the chart, I am still pondering what mild external colours to introduce to these ships.
Related posts:
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Basic typology and exteriors of large spacecraft
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Large spacecraft interiors and their inner workings
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Freighter size typologies: LCFs, MCFs, SCFs
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Space fighters and space warfare drones
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The schematics from this post in colour
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A little something on spacesuits
Large spacecraft in the Carpaverse - Spinewheeler variants coloured
I'm sure we all love seeing colour in design schematics and drawings on this site, my much-promised coloured version of the previous schematics included. This is my first experimental foray into colouring a schematic I made for my Carpaverse. I wasn't going to ape the colour-scheming work I've already done in the past two years for AndyC's own starship story (see
here), or ape the colour patterns of something like the
Homeworld games, or Angry Scottsman's
SF warfare story series. However, I didn't want the chosen colour for the ships, as simple as I wanted them to be, to come off entirely bland.
I think I've found a happy medium, all things considered. Now you probably have a better idea on the overall colour tint of the hulls and the radiators, and you can also notice there is a slight colour difference between more civilian-purpose ships (vaguely more fresh and shiny-looking) and military-purpose ships (vaguely more drab-looking, not meant for good looks and all). You can notice the container modules of the entirely civilian LCF are the most colourful, rather predictably. The slightly armed military resupply cousin has a more uniform look to its containers, also quite predictably. Same goes for the fightercraft carrier and its hangar modules for the fightercraft.
However, we get back into a variety of colours again with the variants capable of carrying TLADS dropships. Though they can partly reprogramme their camo, many dropships also have a certain camo pattern, to prevent easier detection from air once they safely land on a planet. The dark green ones can hide on meadows next to coniferous forests, jungles, or other darker green forests. The lighter green ones can fit among conifers or other vegetation of their hues, including alien flora rather than Earth-descended flora. The dusty, orange-y ones are good in savannah or desert or steppe terrain, as you can imagine. The white ones are useful in snowed-in regions, including polar ones. And so on and so forth.
Hope you like these long-spined beauties.
