Scout

Update: Per a correction from RandyT0001 of the CotI forums, moved the bridge window forward somewhat (1 square?) on the outside views. 04/24/08. Also reshaped the bridge window. 05/09/08.

Updates Planned: Reduce the size of stateroom freshers, add side and front view, add person to views for scale, changed life-support to grayed boxes for consistency, place some of the cargo hold under a grate in the "underpeak". Also make a PDF version.

I re-designed the Scout deck plans with a few things in mind. First, I wanted to start with the basic CT layout most of us have grown to love. Second, I wanted to correct some issues with the tonnage of the old plans not being correct (the engineering section was way too small). Third, I wanted to show all of the tonnage of the craft in the plans.

The plans will look similar to those familiar with the CT versions, except for two changes: the air/raft was moved into the "attic" and the cargo bay was moved into the lower hold. The tonnages seemed to fit nicely with my restructured decks, and this allowed more room on the main deck to correct the engineering size. My placement of the cargo bay also allowed an easy addition of a cargo ramp so scouts would no longer have to lug 3 tons of cargo up a ladder.

Section	Tons	Notes
Hull	100
Armor	5	Not included in deck plans.
Jump Drive	10
Maneuver Drive	2
Power Plant	4
Bridge	10	Includes the computer in MGT. Landing gear, life support, one hallway, the crawl space, and ship's locker came from bridge tonnage in my plans.
Electronics	2	Includes sensors.
Weapons	1
Fuel	40
Cargo	3
4 Staterooms	16	Includes the commons.
5 Probe Drones or Data banks	1	Probe drones on survey vessels, data banks on couriers.
Fuel Processors	2
Air/raft	4	No extra "hangar" space, but I have to live with it.

If you count the squares all as 1.5x1.5x3 you will believe that the math is off. Since the ship is wedge shaped, I counted the "inner" squares as averaging full size (1 ton per 2 squares), while the outer gray and green fuel squares averaged 1.5x1.5x1.5 (1 ton per 4 squares). Some of the graph paper squares were hacked off due to the slant in the scout design. I took pains to compute the partial squares to make the overall ship darn close, if not exactly, 100 displacement tons (with armor), when all three decks are added together.

Stern: At the crown of the stern (rear) is a retracting door for the air/raft garage. Below this can be seen the maneuver drive ports and jump drive heat radiators further out on the "wings". Towards the port side is the iris valve which leads to the engineering section. A ladder leads up from this door to topside of the ship. Another ladder leads downwards and unfolds to reach the surface when the ship is grounded. At the bottom of the stern view is the retracting cargo bay door. The door flips down then unfolds once to create a ramp to the surface.

Topside: The dark triangle is the location of the bridge view port. Directly behind this is a roof hatch. Further back is the hardpoint and another roof hatch.

Bottom View: Forward is the fore landing gear hatch. The two large squares aft are the rear landing gear hatches. Between this are (from the stern) the fuel scoop, drone launch hatch (only on some models), and a personnel hatch that drops out of the belly of the ship. The belly hatch is low enough to the ground that only a single drop down step is needed to enter the ship.

Sensor Suite: 1.5 tons of military-grade sensor equipment is housed in the nose cone of the craft.

Access Shaft: Crawlspace that allows access to the bow landing gear and sensor suite.

Bridge: Two workstations on the bridge. 1/2 tons of electronics under the "dash" of the stations. Ship's computer and backup divided between starboard and port of the bridge. Pulling out the bridge's small storage locker reveals a maintenance hatch to the bow crawlspace. Just outside the bridge is a hatch leading topside..

Staterooms: Each comprises of a bunk, storage cabinet, sink, toilet, and shower. Roomy cabins.

Commons: A galley (including table and autokitchen) makes up most of the commons. One corner includes a general purpose science station. This workstation is often used to operate the sensor drones (survey vessel) or access the databanks (courier). To the starboard side is life support (1 ton), and the ship's locker.

Engineering: The dual jump drive modules are at the sides of the engineering hold. In the center is the power plant directly integrated into the maneuver drives to aft. There is a single engineering workstation and small tools or parts locker. An iris valve allows exit from the ship, but this is not a true airlock (engineering would be flooded with whatever atmosphere is outside the ship). Just inside engineering are the access hatches to the attic and hold.

Fire Control: A weapons station along with the fire control equipment. An access shaft to the main deck is just outside the iris valve along with an airlock and hatch to the roof of the ship.

Garage: A 4-ton garage normally houses an air/raft. Due to the wedge shape of the ship, the starboard and port sides of the garage have a low, sloped ceiling (the last two squares on each side are almost half normal height). The garage door retracts into the floor below the garage, allowing a grav vehicle to fly out. Non-flying vehicles must be placed in the 3-ton cargo bay.

Fuel Processor: Between the fuel scoop and the lower hold fuel tankage are 2 tons of fuel processors.

Drone Bay: A 1-ton bay for storage and maintenance of five sensor drones. Note the floor hatch which can be opened from the bridge or the science station to release a drone. The drone hatch is too small for a human-sized body to fit through. Outside the drone bay is a vertical shaft and airlock leading outside the underbelly of the ship, or upwards to the main deck.

Cargo Bay: A small 3-ton cargo bay. A door drops on the aft side of the cargo bay, unfolding into a loading ramp.

Fuel Processor: Between the fuel scoop and the lower hold fuel tankage are 2 tons of fuel processors.

Data Bay: A 1 ton bay of computer databanks for storage of information on courier runs. Outside the data bay is a vertical shaft and airlock leading outside the underbelly of the ship, or upwards to the main deck.

Cargo Bay: A small 3 ton cargo bay. A door drops on the aft side of the cargo bay, unfolding into a loading ramp.