Internal Structure Modeling

[MarkTheSaint]

Has anyone looked at modeling the internal structure of a battlestar? It would be interesting how the internal space is utilized and how to get people from one part of the ship to another or how storage space is organized to maximize material usage and efficiency. Also, how would one organize a damage-control system to protect key components during attacks or accidents?

[Punisher454]

a transit system running from end to end would work. cargo and ships as large as a shuttle can be transferred laterally from one landing bay to the other by the structure that rund between them and meets the main hull in the center.
I would think that most (but not all) of the pressurized compartments would be some distance from the outer hull for protection.

[MarkTheSaint]

At least people can start thinking about the internal structure so we can know actual
locations where the characters in the show go to unwind after a mission to get a beer
or other drink, or where there is a marketplace or promenade (as in DS9 episodes) to
go shopping or where they eat and sleep in their quarters. I would like to see how during
an attack they recover a viper from the landing bay, repair, refuel and/or rearm it and
then move it to the launch tube to get it back into the action.

[Punisher454]

I would like to see how during
an attack they recover a viper from the landing bay, repair, refuel and/or rearm it and
then move it to the launch tube to get it back into the action.

I have something in the works that may help visualize that.

a couple of examples in these threads;
https://www.colonialfleets.com/forums...ad.php?t=18660
https://www.colonialfleets.com/forums...ad.php?t=18662

I have been working on an interactive BSG story (game) for quite some time. Most of the game assets including the complete set models will be made available to the community at some point. My progress is slow and comes in unpredictable bursts of progress followed by long term dormant periods.

[xyzw12345]

I can't say i've done internal modelling for a battlestar but i have built a frigate class starship inside and out. The hardest part is actually using all the space available because where you have curved hull surfaces you end up with curved rooms inside those sections which are really hard to work with and fill efficiently. On a battlestar that might not be so much trouble as on a frigate because the battlestar is so much larger ship and the curves will therefore be easier to just fit square rooms next to without losing so much space. A useful trick for armouring is to break the craft into internal sections, the most important of which almost have their own "hull inside a hull". Those crucial sections will be the bridge (or CIC) and things like the reactors. Ofcourse for really good full interior design don't forget the fuel tanks needed to keep Tsiolkovsky happy...

I do find it a shame that almost never does a sci-fi film or tv series fully address the interior layout of their key ships, one would think the writers and concept artists could work that sort of stuff out but instead rooms just fit together willy-nilly rather than how the hull around them demands(atleast on smaller vessels).

[Senmut]

We see the pilots, in a rail car, headed for a scramble. That's a start.

[MarkTheSaint]

I have seen documentaries on how they built the nuclear aircraft carriers, section by
section, and how they tested the systems aboard and hoisted the broom for a clean
sweep for successfully passing all the tests the first time. I like to see a version of this
for a battlestar and see it pull out of the shipyard under power like in the star trek
movie to cap off the experience.

Then I have a proposal for a ship type that would make the battleship fans jaw drop in
awe. Have the ship be 5000' long, 1000' wide and 500' high. The shape of the ship
would have a slight arch in the middle on top and bottom. The bridge would be tapered
on top, bottom, port and starboard sides and attached on front. The engine section
would be slightly smaller that on a battlestar. The arch section has 8 gun turrets, four
on top and 4 on bottom, with each gun turret having 3 guns each. Each gun is an
electromagnetic rail gun that has a 600" bore and is 500' long and can shoot 60-ton
shells 10,000+ mph. When not deployed the turrets are pointed toward the center of
the ship with the guns enclosed in bays with huge doors. When the guns are deployed
the doors pop open and the guns swing up and out of the bays and then the turret
swings into position as the targeting system locks on the target. Imagine having all
24 guns pointed at a Cylon base star and ready to fire!

The gun shells can come in three types with the first type being used for shield
penetration so it is made of raw uranium or other heavy element to pack as much mass
as possible to knock out the enemy shield generators when they hit. The second type
is the explosive kind that destroys the enemy ship from within by detonating a powerful
explosive charge. The third type is when Cylon raiders are coming in swarms and clouds
numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions. The shell travels a fixed distance and
then explodes into 24,000 5-pound pieces of shrapnel that travel in a cone pattern like
a shotgun blast. When hundreds of these shells are shot and then detonate, the cones
of shrapnel overlap over a large area, creating a "wall of death" that is moving at high
speed at the enemy fighters, causing damage, disablement and destruction on them.
Then the vipers can go in clean up any resistance that is left. There are still details to
work out but it would be nice to have some fire power to take on a fleet of basestars.

[Senmut]

There goes the FX budget!!!!!!

[MarkTheSaint]

No guts no glory, No pain no gain.