Refitted X-Boats - VW Beetles in Traveller

[Gray Lensman]

Streamlined?

I was just looking thru my CT stuff and I have not found a description of the express boat that said it was streamlined. And why should it be given it has no maneuver drives and was never meant to enter planetary atmospheres. Yes, I know, it's a teardrop and should be considered streamlined.

Gave a quick glance at MT and found where it would be cheaper to build as box or open frame configs

Is it just me or ............

 

[ThunderChilde]

just an idle question but isn't a sphere even cheaper? It is a tear drop, just an elongated sphere, more or less.

 

[BlackBat242]

Is an X-boat armored?

If not, then I expect it is a sphere with a jump drive stuck onto the outside... with a streamlined fairing to protect it from small-object damage.

 

[Gray Lensman]

how would streamlining protect it from small object damage in a vacuum?

 

[Gray Lensman]

just an idle question but isn't a sphere even cheaper? It is a tear drop, just an elongated sphere, more or less.

Bk5 Price Mods Sphere -30%
Close -40%
Dispersed -50%

MT Price Mods Sphere x1.5
Open or Irregular x0.5
Box x.06

 

[Gray Lensman]

"THE EXPRESS BOAT​

The express boat is almost useless for any purpose other than that for which it
was originally designed


Two variant models have been built for experimental purposes. One model incorporated maneuver drives sufficient to produce 1-G; the loss of jump potential (reduced to jump 3) was deemed unacceptable, however, and

it was not produced. The second variant included a four-ton light sail (replacing the second stateroom). This model was intended to provide emergency acceleration away from a star in the event of breakout at too close a distance. The apparant benefits from this modification were

also deemed too small for mass production. However, there are reports that some​

examples were produced and may be in service in the Spinward Marches."

That is from Traders and Gunboats, Supplement 7, pages 8 and 10, GDW, 1980.
Quoted here just for discussion purposes.

Page 9 (the deckplan page) says that it is a 12 meter sphere with a 10 meter cone tail. (also gives overall length at 22 meters? does not sound right unless cone attachs to bottom of sphere instead of around the middle to give the illustrated shape).

Bk5 lists sphere as partially streamlined and cone as fully streamlined, seems to me that you would have to go with the lesser of these but under MT a sphere has a streamlining price mod of x1.0 and N/A listed under Unstl and AF so let us assume that sphere is fully streamlined under MT.

Okay, the X-Boat is fully streamlined. A Detachable annular ring structure containing manuever drives, grapples, extra fuel maybe, controls, anything you wanted to add.

with a detachable drive you could take it with you (lowered Jump capacity) or leave it to use full jump capability. You could even have them waiting for you in multiple systems.

Could possibly even be the end of the X-Boat Tender.....


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[Patron Zero]

.....Okay, the X-Boat is fully streamlined. A Detachable annular ring structure containing manuever drives, grapples, extra fuel maybe, controls, anything you wanted to add.

with a detachable drive you could take it with you (lowered Jump capacity) or leave it to use full jump capability. You could even have them waiting for you in multiple systems.

I've always championed the concept of a 'service' hull making an X-boat more 'independent', I see X-boat Tenders as recovering the speedy little craft that require 'dry dock' attention rather than simple refueling and receiving new 'mail' to carry.

 

[navanod]

I had a little time between the 52 other things going on at the moment, and knocked out a clay-model render of my concept for an X-boat service hull. I haven't statted anything out yet, but 3ds does a great job of letting you keep track of volumes.

Annular wing/ring - 24 m diameter, 5 m tall, 3 m wide. Volume 750 m3, 55 dtons.
Drive pods (x3) - 6.6 m diameter, 11 m tall. Volume 250 m3 (x3), 55 dtons.
The pods and ring overlap, to the tune of 150 m3 total, for a total volume of 100 dtons.
The airlock on the service hull connects directly to the existing airlock on the boat; the only real modification required to an X-boat is the addition of the control, power, and fuel lines that are contained in the 3 retractable docking clamps.

Enjoy. I'm elbow deep for the next 3 weeks in other projects, but may actually come back to this and work out stats and a full render.

 

[navanod]

Quick stats.

Using a 100-ton hull, the X-boat Auxiliary Service Hull is a companion ship sold to better utilize surplus and retired X-boats, giving them maneuver capability, gas giant refueling, and atmospheric landing capabilities.

It has maneuver drive-A, and power plant-A, giving performance of 2-G acceleration on it's own, and 1-G acceleration when mated with an X-boat. There is fuel tankage of 10 tons supporting the power plant. When docked with an X-boat, the pair can perform Jump-2. Adjacent to the bridge is
a computer Model/2. There are three staterooms installed standard. One turret is installed, mounting a mix of beam laser, missile launcher, and sandcaster, with 1 ton of firecontrol installed.. The ship has no vehicles. Cargo capacity is 50 tons, although typically this space is used for customizing the hull for various jobs. The ship is streamlined.
The service hull requires a crew of 3: pilot, engineer, and gunner. The pilot also acts as the navigator. The ship costs MCr47.1 and takes 9 months to build.

 

[Gray Lensman]

Snipped... Enjoy. I'm elbow deep for the next 3 weeks in other projects, but may actually come back to this and work out stats and a full render.

I am going to do BK5 Stats and a deckplan of this one myself, will post it when done.

I know the Suppl 7 deckplans are a bit crappy. Anyone know where there is a better look in CT or MT?

 

[Patron Zero]

I am going to do BK5 Stats and a deckplan of this one myself, will post it when done.

Gray, Where do I pre-register for getting a copy of the deckplans ? *smile*


Nicely executed navanod, thanks !

 

[navanod]

No problem. Once you get the deckplans worked out, I should hopefully have some time to detail and texture it.

 

[Patron Zero]

Quoting the revered Zen Master Hannibal Smith, "I love it when a plan comes together."

 

[Gray Lensman]

No problem. Once you get the deckplans worked out, I should hopefully have some time to detail and texture it.

:rofl: May be a while, I worked at it for a bit today and found circular plans WAY harder to deal with than the two poor examples I have posted in the gallery .

Anyway, I used HGShipyard today and didn't like it, have to wait till this weekend to do Bk5 by hand, took plan dimensions from yours (and found something interesting in Standard Design as well [see next post])

Gray, Where do I pre-register for getting a copy of the deckplans ? *smile*

Posted here when done, or what I can get done anyway, probably by next monday I will have done what I can and post it for other people to play with, I am well aware that I am not that good an artist. And I am not bothered about it one bit

 

[Gray Lensman]

X Boat Volume

X Boat Volume
Supplement 7, Traders and Gunboats says 12 meter sphere with a ten
meter cone attached?
Volume of 12 meter sphere = 905.126 Cubic Meters
Rounded to 905 and divided by two = 452.5/13.5 = 33.518 Dtons
Volume of 10 meter high by 12 dia base cone = 377.136 Cubic meters
rounded to 377 and divide by 13.5 = 27.925 Dtons
+ 33.518 Dtons
= 61.443 Dtons
Not Enough!!!!
Volume of Cylinder 12 M dia X
6 meter high = 678.844 C meters
rounded to 679/13.5 = 50.296+61.443 = Too Much!!!!
We are looking for about 39/40 Dtons
Volume of Cylinder 12 M dia X
5 meter high = 565.704/13.5 = 41.9 dtons
Volume of Cylinder 12 M dia X
4.5 meter high = 509.1336/13.5 = 37.7 dtons

okay we'll use the 5 meter high cylinder
So, what are we left with?
A Hemispherical Nose Section 33.518 Dtons
A Cylindrical Mid Section 41.9 Dtons
A Conical Aft Section 27.925 Dtons
Equals a total volume of: 103.343 Dtons
OKAY THEN, CLOSE ENOUGH

Length = 6 meters + 5 meters + 10 meters = 21 meters (only one short of the book)o:

(and yes I always use 13.5 instead of 14 CM as a Dton. Why? because 1.5x3x3=13.5 NOT 14 )

 

[BlackBat242]

X Boat Volume
Supplement 7, Traders and Gunboats says 12 meter sphere with a ten meter cone attached?

Volume of 12 meter sphere = 905.126 Cubic Meters
Rounded to 905 and divided by two = 452.5/13.5 = 33.518 Dtons
Volume of 10 meter high by 12 dia base cone = 377.136 Cubic meters rounded to 377 and divide by 13.5 = 27.925 Dtons
+ 33.518 Dtons
= 61.443 Dtons
Not Enough!!!!


Volume of Cylinder 12 M dia X
5 meter high = 565.704/13.5 = 41.9 dtons

okay we'll use the 5 meter high cylinder
So, what are we left with?
A Hemispherical Nose Section 33.518 Dtons
A Cylindrical Mid Section 41.9 Dtons
A Conical Aft Section 27.925 Dtons
Equals a total volume of: 103.343 Dtons
OKAY THEN, CLOSE ENOUGH

Length = 6 meters + 5 meters + 10 meters = 21 meters (only one short of the book)

OK... you've got a problem with your first calculation... you have a 6 meter radius hemisphere (12 meter diameter) attached to a 10 meter cone... for a total length of 16 meters!!!


Here are the two shapes you calculate out:

Now here is a 12 meter diameter sphere with a cone attached that extends 10 meters past the sphere (total length 22 meters):

It can be calculated as roughly a 16 meter long x 12 meter diameter cone with a 6 meter radius hemisphere end cap (it is actually a touch more than this, due to the slight bulge at the start of the cone).

So we get:
Volume of 12 meter sphere = 905.126 Cubic Meters
Rounded to 905 and divided by two = 452.5/13.5 = 33.518 Dtons

Volume of 16 meter high by 12 dia base cone = 603.186 Cubic meters rounded to 603 and divide by 13.5 = 44.667 Dtons

78.185 Dtons.
Add the "fudge" for the top of the cone being "bulged" and it is still something like ~80-82 Dtons... still a tad small.


So then we do something like this:

Far harder to calculate volume for, but I'd say right about 100dt, right? As well as being exactly what the book describes, with the proper shapes and dimensions?

Besides... the "French curve" of the cone is much better matched to the curve of the sphere than the "germanic straightness" of the plain cone, in my opinion.

Cleaned up:

 

[aramis]

Problem is that the Sup7 description is WRONG... it says 12m sphere and 10m cone... which is only 16m long

but shows a 12m diam hemisphere on a 16.5m partial cone, with a cone length of about 6/5 of that, or 19.8m and losing 1.3m long 1.151515m diam cone from the truncation, for 1193.55518874676m³ 85.253Td 88.411Td(MT)... somewhat under sized...

Now, making it work
Hemisphere: 6m radius V=452.389
Cylinder Length: L=25m r=6m V=942.477
Missing part: L=9 r=2.16 V=-43.972
Total Volume=1350.895 (96.492Tdct 100.066Tdmt)

Now making it work in other editions using 14kl Td..
Hemisphere: 6m radius V=452.389
Cylinder Length: L=27m r=6m V=1017.876
Missing part: L=11 r=2.444 V=-68.830
Total Volume=1401.434 (100.102Tdct 103.809Tdmt)

 

[BlackBat242]

Problem is that the Sup7 description is WRONG... it says 12m sphere and 10m cone... which is only 16m long

OK... we are reading different definitions of the words.

To me, the only way to get a 16 meter length is to have that 10 meter long cone and cap it with a 12 meter diameter hemisphere, not a 12 meter diameter sphere.

Half of that 12-meter diameter sphere.


I read it as being that the sphere does not "nest into" the cone, but is fully outside the 10 meter cone length. The full 12 meter diameter sphere with a 10 meter cone at the end of the sphere, with the space between the wide end of the cone and the sphere being filled in.

Nothing in the description requires that the cone be 12 meters in diameter 10 meters from the tip... just that the tip be 10 meters from the end of the full sphere.



That brings it to the first drawing I posted that has the 22 meter length. This matches the drawing in LBB-7... but is indeed still between 80 and 85 Dtons... thus my "curvy" version... to fill in the remaining tonnage.

 

[aramis]

OK... we are reading different definitions of the words.

To me, the only way to get a 16 meter length is to have that 10 meter long cone and cap it with a 12 meter diameter hemisphere, not a 12 meter diameter sphere.

Half of that 12-meter diameter sphere.


I read it as being a full 12 meter diameter sphere with a 10 meter cone at the end of the sphere, with the space between the wide end of the cone and the sphere being filled in.

Nothing in the description requires that the cone be 12 meters in diameter 10 meters from the tip... just that the tip be 10 meters from the end of the full sphere.

Sorry, but wrong... the description is on the plans, which clearly show a cone and hemisphere.

Anyway, using your misinterpretation...

Ok, I plugged it into the spreadsheet, and get
Hemisphere: r=6m V=452.38934211693
Cylinder: r=6m L=6m V=678.584013175395
Cone: r=6m L=10m v=376.991118430775
removed cone: none
Totals: 1507.964kl 107.711Tdct 111.701Tdmt L=22m

Doing a bit of drawing in sketchup, It needs a 1.5m cylinder to clear the sphere... but that's only 1168.672kl

Playing with the spreadsheet, I get...
Hemisphere 12m diam
Cylinder 4.5m long, 6m diam.
Cone Len 11.5m long, 6m diam
Volume 1394.867kl. In the CT range, but doesn't match the plans.

or
Hemisphere 12
Cylinder 4
Cone Len 12
Sub Len 0
Volume 1357.16802635079 Close to the MT range.

 

[BlackBat242]

What's hard to understand about it?

A 10 meter long cone, and a 12 meter diameter sphere... neither occupying any space within the other.

Then the extra space is covered over to streamline it, and that space is used.

No, the internal bulkheads in the aft part of the sphere don't form a curved wall, but surely you can see what I am talking about?