New Starship Geomorph and Cargo Bay Illustration

I've still been too busy combating the forces of evil (i.e. "real life") to make any new progress on the Starship Geomorph book, so here are a couple geomorphs of a simple cargo bay - one full of cargo and the other empty - to tide you over.
The illustration depicts a common scenario many Travellers might have experience with - the critter infestation in the cargo bay - and the stalwart ship's security agent about to have a close encounter.

The insect model was created by ShinbiHAJI and can be found at the SketchUp Warehouse.

Hammer Class 100 ton Merchant - Additional Images

I have had several requests to provide additional images for the Hammer Class starship, in particular orthographic views and what the underside looks like.

The original post for this ship, including deck plan can be found here.

Deck plan variants can be found here.

Deck Plan - Hammer Class 100 ton Merchant

I've got a sketchbook filled with deck plan sketches, mostly small stuff - 100 to 200 tons, merchant ships, scouts and couriers, a few small military ships. As time allows, I'd like to clean them up and post them here.

Hammer Class 100 ton Merchant
Using a custom 100-ton hull, the Hammer Class Merchant is a commercial vessel used for small cargo shipping and trading purposes. It mounts jump drive-A, maneuver drive-A, and power plant-A, giving a performance of jump-2 and 2G acceleration. Fuel tankage for 40 tons supports the power plant and one jump-2. Adjacent to the bridge is a computer Model 1bis. There are three staterooms and no low berths. The ship has one hardpoint and one ton allocated to fire control. Installed on the hardpoint is a pop-out double turret, which mounts two beam lasers. There is one ship's vehicle: an enclosed 4 man air/raft. Cargo capacity is 15 tons. The ship is streamlined.

The merchant ship requires a crew of three: pilot/navigator, engineer, medic/gunner. With it's relatively large cargo bay adjacent to the main airlock, the Hammer Class is easily converted to other uses. Popular conversions include the Hammer-Hunter variant used by bounty hunters and the Ore Hammer variant used by belters.

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For a higher resolution PDF, click this link: (Traveller Starship Deckplan Hammer Class Merchant). The deckplan was created to be printed out on 24"x36". Scale is 1" = 5'-0" so it can be used with 25mm miniatures. Enjoy!
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G is for Grav-Hauler

Possibly the smallest of the small craft, the Grav-Hauler is a one man anti-gravity vehicle used to transport small cargos. It's performance when loaded is very similar to the standard air/raft, and is slightly faster when unloaded. It is most frequently used to haul single standard 4 dton containers,  but two containers can be linked and hauled together with some loss of performance. The cabin allows for 12 hours of life support, and contains an emergency vacc suit which will provide an additional 12 hours. It is possible for a second occupant to squeeze into the cabin, essentially on the pilots lap, but all operations are performed at a skill level of -2 and life support time is halved.

The vehicle requires the Pilot skill or Grav Vehicle skill to operate (level 0 is acceptable). Operation of the cargo clamps and cargo grav units is fairly intuitive and no special skills are required for basic manuevers. Cargo Handling skill is recommended for anything more difficult. The Grav-Haulers cargo clamps retract when not in use and the vehicle only takes 1 dton of space, so they are often carried aboard larger cargo ships.

The Grav-Hauler is an ubiquitous vehicle, and can be found at nearly all starports and spaceports, transporting goods across the planet or across town. Pilots of these craft are often part of a close-knit community and are known to look out for each other.

The model of the scout ship was created by Cyberia23 at the SketchUp warehouse. The alien planet landscape background is from WallpaperSafari.com

D is for Dropship

"We're on an express elevator to hell - going down!" - PFC William Hudson, United States Colonial Marine Corps

I've always liked the modular cutter from Traveller. I like the idea of a ship having a lot of utility and to be able to meet a wide variety of needs. I also like several of the dropships I've seen in popular media, in particular the Pelican from the Halo video game, and the Cheyenne from the movie Aliens. The idea that you can quickly be put into the thick of things with all your gear, or call for a quick rescue is appealing. So this is my take on a dropship, which I see as being a mix between the modular cutter and a more typical dropship. The Nirvana does not contain any of its own cargo space, but instead relies on a pre-fabricated, standardized payload "shell", which can be outfitted as necessary depending upon need.  Used primarily for trips from orbit to the surface and back, or surface to surface hops, this ship is not intended for extended travel periods. It is not necessary to drop the shell off as part of a mission. Some Nirvana have been used solely for shuttling loose cargo and vehicles, and the shell never needs to leave its cradle. Although the images show a military version of the Nirvana, it is also used widely in the private sector, primarily for small cargo runs, passenger ferrying, and providing rescue and humanitarian aid. Commercial versions of the Nirvana typically switch out the turrets for bridge and passenger related comforts, such as a small fresher and bunk area.

The Payload Shell
The payload shell itself is of modular construction. The unit as shown contains four 10' deep sections. The forward section is empty, and features an iris valve hatch and two round windows, which are designed to align with the Nirvana's rear hatch and allows access between the bridge and the payload shell. The middle two sections are standard empty/cargo units and are completely modifiable. The aft section utilizes a rear wall which can be lowered to act as a ramp. This is extremely beneficial for off-loading troops or vehicles in a hurry. Payload shells intending to carry passengers or live cargo are outfitted with the necessary life support systems and meet the basic requirements for any spacecraft. Most shells will include grav-plates in the floor decking, but these are sometimes eliminated when the shell will primarily be used to deliver cargo. The shell can be outfitted with auto-leveling feet for use on uneven grade, so minimal site preparation is required. There are a variety of additional shell modules types to meet just about any need.

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For a higher resolution PDF, click this link: (Traveller Nirvana Class Dropship). The deckplan was created to be printed out on 30"x42". Scale is 1" = 5'-0" so it can be used with 25mm miniatures. Enjoy!
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Additional Illustrations - Starship: 200 ton Armed Merchant

Additional images of the Sharptooth Class 200 ton Armed Merchant, loading cargo in a landing bay. I redesigned the rear cargo area to have an EVA room, additional ship's lockers, and standard airlock. The adjacent Broadsword Mercenary Cruiser is heavily influenced by (read: ripped off from) the work of Ian Stead. Check out his work if you haven't already. The model of the scout ship was done by Cyberia23 at the SketchUp warehouse.

Grav-assisted CargoBot

This was inspired by the grav-assisted APC in one of my old Traveller books (but for the life of me I cannot find it - I just remembered something like "imagine a tank moving at Lamborghini speeds...). So the idea is the cargo bot has an anti-grav module to make the cargo lighter and therefore easier to move around. I provided several different options from what I remembered from Book 8 - Robots, but am past my days of gearheading all the small details and counting credits. I figure the these would run from about 80KCr for the manually driven cargo mover up to 200KCr for the grav version with all the bells and whistles.

I created and really liked an image of a grav cargobot holding cargo from above, like some flying beast with prey in its claws, but then I started thinking about the anti-grav cargo module contradicting the effects of the anti-grav mobility unit. It made my head hurt. I eventually remembered this is all fiction and decided anti-grav fields could run the same way or perpendicular to each other, but not in opposite directions, hence the last image with the robot below the cargo.

Finally, this is a strong attempt of mine to stay away from anthropomorphized robots. I like Star Wars as much as the next guy, but after Wall-E and BB-8, the cute robot thing is starting to get to me. This is my push back with the cargobots just being sophisticated equipment. No vocoder, although it does have an audible warning system. It communicates via text with the user through the ship's computer, the user's hand computer/datapad, or the screens on the center of the control unit.