Sturn's Shipyard

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TYPE-J SEEKER (mining model of the Type-S Scout)

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

Updates Planned: Improve the look of the canopy, 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".

I re-designed the Seeker 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, but with the following changes: the seeker buggy was moved into the "attic" and the engineering section is greatly enlarged. Due to my plans being based on the Mongoose version of the Seeker, the lower hold became a mining drone and ore processing bay while the number of staterooms was reduced from four to two.

These plans are currently based on the Mongoose version of the Seeker with one personal change - I put the Seeker Buggy back in the plans, reducing the ore bay by 4 tons.  I just  couldn't leave out the buggy (which was left in the Mongoose retail Seeker deck plans, if not description, anyway):

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.

External Views

Stern: At the crown of the stern (rear) is a retracting door for the mining buggy.  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 bay door (normally used for mining drones).  The door flips down then unfolds once to create a ramp to the surface.

Topside: The dark triangle is the location of the bridge viewport.  Directly behind this is a roof hatch.  Next are two large "wing" doors which open to allow loading of the ore bay from above using the buggy or mining "scooper" drones.  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, shunting port (for expelling unwanted material from the processing reactor), 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. 

Main Deck

From bow to stern:

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

Fuel: Separate tanks are not shown.

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

Landing Gear: Tri-landing gear.  One forward and two aft.

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.. Note: The small bridge locker is the only "ship's locker" available on the Seeker. Emergency equipment is sometimes shoved in the staterooms or a corner of the ore bay.

Staterooms:  Each comprises of a bunk, storage cabinet, and sink.  Sparse cabins.

Ore Bay: A 19-ton bay for raw and processed ore.  The ceiling of the bay peaks towards the center and is quite low on each side.  A chute for raw ore drops to the processing station in the lower hold.  Processed ore is returned up another shaft to starboard.  There are two very large "wing" doors which allow the mining drones and seeker buggy to enter the bay when conducting mining operations.  Note that during mining operations crew can not move from the bridge to the commons without first closing the wing doors or donning a vacc suit.

Commons: A galley (including table and autokitchen) makes up most of the small commons.  To the starboard side is life support (1 ton).  To port is a common fresher.

Engineering: The dual jump drive modules are at the sides of the engineering hold.  In the center is the powerplant directly integrated into the manuveur 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.

Upper "Attic"

From bow to stern:

Fuel: Separate tanks are not shown.

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 a Seeker's "buggy" which assists with mining operations.  The buggy includes controls for giving operational commands to the mining drones if needed.  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 would need assistance to be placed in the attic garage.

Lower "Hold"

From bow to stern:

Fuel Processor: Between the fuel scoop and the lower hold fuel tankage is 1 ton of fuel processors.

Ore Processing Station: This 5-ton area includes basic ore processing equipment.  Mined ore is dropped down a chute from the cargo bay above to be processed in a reactor.  Unwanted materials are shunted through the port under the reactor and out of the ship.  Processed ore is then transferred by a conveyor belt back up to the ore bay.  A single workstation is used to monitor the processing.  This station can also be used to give commands to the mining drones.  The processing hold is cramped and dirty.  The ceiling slopes at a sharp angle on each side.  Ore processing in a harsh environment is conducted after, not during, gathering of raw materials, since the processing station is exposed to the atmosphere when the ore bay doors are opened (due to openings in the ceiling for the shaft and chute).

Outside the processing station is a vertical shaft and airlock leading outside the underbelly of the ship, or upwards to the main deck.

Drone Bay: A 5-ton bay for storage and maintenance of four mining drones (two "diggers" and two "scoopers").  The bay's ceiling slopes sharply downward at each side.  A door drops on the aft side of the drone bay, unfolding into a loading ramp.  Even though the drones themselves can fly in, this allows easy loading of cargo if the drones are disposed of and instead the bay is used for other equipment.