Hybrid Hulls

[Patron Zero]

Just wondering if anyone has 'shipbased' a new starship from combining two separate hulls of existing canon (and non-canon) craft ?

Best to explain this as a preposition in IMTU that vast boneyards exist of retired or salvaged ships being found here and abouts my spacelanes. By numbers produced most would likely be Sulieman Scout/Courier hulls accounting for the majority but other designs and hulls not to be entirely absent from said inventories.

An example of such hull-fusing might be two (2) 400 ton Discovery class Lab Ships and an 800 ton Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser being refit and renovated into a composite vessel with an entirely new mission-application.
The 800 ton hull now acting as a fuel skimming capable tanker-lander, the 200 ton hulls now a dedicated jump drive tug and support platform.

IMTU the design is employed as a fuel collection and transfer team but not limited exclusively to that role, the 800 ton hull's design capable of refit for many other task specific configurations, fuel skimmer-tanker is just one possibility.

 

[GypsyComet]

TNE has one in Canon (a Type S replacing the nose of a Gazelle), and I was considering inflicting another on players at one point.

 

[Patron Zero]

Covenanter

TNE has one in Canon (a Type S replacing the nose of a Gazelle), and I was considering inflicting another on players at one point.

Yes, if not incorrect that was christened a Covenanter Class Scout/Courier, author-architect unknown but duly appreciated for their innovative design.

A few other Classic Traveller hulls I toy with have been the CT 100 ton X-boat and the non-canon 100 ton Type A Golfball Class Scout/Courier and 200 ton Baseball Class Type A Freetraders designs.

Also an inclusion of a non-canon 200 ton Lab Ship hull pretty much being a downsized version of it's 400 ton big brother. IMTU the smaller ships originally were employed as compact X-boat tenders as well as mobile 'listening' posts and other mission specific configured platforms.

One last mention of a 400 ton Softball Class Type A design having been seen in Scout/Courier and merchant service alike, both variants being occasionally spotted along the spaceways and a most sought after treasure in the salvage yards.

 

[far-trader]

I did some work on a blended hull for a game a while back, not sure where the work has gone but I'll see if I can find it. It was the front 100tons (or so) of a Beowulf class Free Trader and the back 200tons (or so) of a Solomani class Free Trader, for 300tons total. Pretty nice ship actually, with a few quirks from the marriage of the hulls. Notably a transition point where the two hulls connected creating a dodgy inertial compensation area and vulnerable (and fussy) jump grid connectors (this was when I used grids) and of course the different jump grid weaves made the J-calcs harder.

 

[Patron Zero]

I did some work on a blended hull for a game a while back not sure where the work has gone but I'll see if I can find it.

I for one would much enjoy seeing the described ship, it sounds quite interesting. My particular bend is always tinkering with established designs either with internal arrangement or exterior hull features. my internal frustrated engineer expressing itself.

 

[far-trader]

I for one would much enjoy seeing the described ship, it sounds quite interesting. My particular bend is always tinkering with established designs either with internal arrangement or exterior hull features. my internal frustrated engineer expressing itself.

I found the pics and uploaded them to the Art (it ain't mine ) Gallery...

Free Traders Passing is the set up for the blended hull, showing the two donor hulls before the accident*

Terpsichore Dances is the blended hull creation named Terpsichore.

I don't recall the details offhand but will try to find them and post. It was (re)built in TNE with FF&S and I had some deckplans mostly completed.

*Well, that was my story for the ship Something about the two ships colliding, wiping out the nose of the Soli and gutting the aft of the Impy, or something like that. Salvage happened, bright Naval Architect saw the way the hulls might fit together and make one good working ship from scrap in short order, and so Terpsichore was born. How we got to be the crew of this desperate venture is another story

 

[mike wightman]

This is the sort of thing I did for TNE.

Photocopy lots of shp deckplans, cut up along bulkhead partitions (by the way check out MgT High Guard for why internal bulkheads and reinforcements are now important), play jigsaws matching up sections to get new hybrdid designs.

I found the fat trader to be a good basic hull form and then had lots of different ways of adding bits.

Finally work out the stats of the new hybrid.

 

[leo knight]

I started with the Broadsword, but reduced the radius to 40'/12m, then stacked them together with a sort of fat "waist" in between, to make a 1000 ton "cruiser". I put the turrets on 2 gun decks, 5 to a deck, and kept the coaxial cutter wells, but dumped the modules, since swapping them was such a convoluted process. The result looked a bit like a peanut, or a double ended lightbulb. I imagine you could stack 2 full size Broadswords to get a 2000 tonner.

Much easier to create a "variant" class than build from the keel up.

 

[Patron Zero]

Renovations & Refits

I've always saw the sheer number of vessels deployed into military and science duty as promising that a fair amount of such would end up decommissioned and mothballed, eventually to end up in civilian-commercial service.

That said, unlikely any hulls of former ships of the line becoming available but that does leave open entire fleets of various support, transport and other non-battleship starcraft to be picked through.

I'm also wondering did the Imperium simply abandon any orbital facilities or other deep space static constructs when such became outdated or obsolete.

That's where my money says small independent 'lighthouses' or near-wild space 'radio' stations were scavenged and established. Outside of renovation costs and supplies, having said 'space hulks' towed to a desired location, starting up such small enterprises would be a good investment if not a likely promising franchise opportunity.

 

[mike wightman]

Just found a few others based on the lab ship with a variety of hulls welded into the middle of it.

 

[Patron Zero]

Doubling Up

I keep seeing the hull of the Type L Lab Ship as having so many other applications, that huge open area inside the ring offering such.

IMTU I frequently have had two Lab Ships 'double' up into an new single hulled 800 ton vessel, more often than not such operating as a in-system tug or doing jump barge duty for ships needing a 'tow'.

Also have employed that configuration for hauling refit 800 ton Broadswords, said former merc cruisers now bulk container non-starships.

 

[savage]

double hulls

Always thought the 100dt survey scout was under armored. In sea based fleets we run into corrosion causing severe problems to a single hull vessel.
A secondary hull would increase survivability.

Never tried mixing hulls but ...always room for something new.

 

[Patron Zero]

Mass Produced

If you refer to the classic and reliable 100 ton Traveller Sulieman-Class Scout/Courier then I agree, it's a great design but sadly doesn't fit all situations or applications.

A good example of such in the modern world is the HMMV, a excellent general duty vehicle but not so good in the role of light APC-AFV though.