readme.txt file concerning (as yet unnamed) vessel Hello once again. This is my current project. It's an armed-merchant vessel suitable for crewing by LEGO Space minifigs. Because it's my first "big" ship project, I decided not to further complicate matters by striking out with my own color scheme, instead clinging to classic LEGO Space colors - blue, gray, white, and a hint here and there of yellow and black. The ship is purposely designed to have a "non-sleek" look to it -- my theme was perhaps a 15-year-old (or later) ship class being slowly phased out by faster, more showy designs, but currently still in service likely because it's simply more cost-effective. The vessel currently has no name; perhaps some of you can email me suggestions or I'll hold a contest for this on LUGNET when I get the thing more-or-less complete. No silly names, please. Just remember, even if the USS Enterprise is one of the oldest carriers afloat in the US Navy, it's still the ENTERPRISE. Speaking of which, you might notice one or two subtle similarities between my design and that of a certain space vessel in a widely-popular science-fiction television series. I vehemently deny that I am in anyway a "Trekker" but I am appreciative of futuristic ship architecture in all mediums. So it was natural that some aspects just naturally creeped into the design; namely, the pivoting captain's chair with consoles on the armrests, and the positioning of the ship's sensors at the fore of the vessel. Another convention I adapted (and as I explained to Kyle Keppler) was the substitution of helmets and airtanks for hairpieces. Why, I have always asked of LEGO Space designers, should protective gear be worn inside the vessel unless dealing with something like a compartment full of radiation? At the time of this posting, the ship is much further along towards completion than these pictures suggest. Nevertheless, much remains to be added; simple things like where's the friggin' crew supposed to sleep? (i.e. berthing spaces). A GUIDE TO THE PICTURES (in alphabetical order) bridgdtl.jpg - Bridge Detail, exterior. I'd thought I'd mention here that the bridge has a removable top. But anyway this shot shows the exterior portside of the bridge, including manuevering thrusters and transponder beacons. bridge_1.jpg - Bridge Shot interior #1. Remember that removable top? Captain Keith Kratur occupies the captain's chair. His exec, Commander Jordan Sills (named for my niece to avoid all kinds of trouble) sits in white to his left. The other bozos on the bridge probably have names, but I don't know what they are yet. Captain Kratur is a LEGO Futuron minifig, and these always struck me as officers for the classic space minifigs. bridge_2.jpg - Bridge Shot interior #2. Just to show you a few details, like the wall- mounted consoles in front of Commander Sills and the crewmember on her right. There are two more wall-mounted consoles on the port side of the bridge. The two blasters (rayguns, etc.) you see are probably going to be covered by a neat folding viewscreen I found in LEGO set #6453 Comlink Cruiser, but they'll still be there. bridgecv.jpg - Bridge, Covered. Very similar to the bridgedtl.jpg shot except that it's a little more of a closeup. If you look carefully, you can see where the cover separates from the rest of the bridge. cargobay.jpg - Shows a shot of CargoMaster (Chief) Viktor Dropspek looking out over his (shudder) empty cargo bay. He is standing just outside the entrance to the bridge. Notice the simple lift just below him from the bridge level to the bay level. Later, there will probably be ladders on the bridge-level walls going up to crew berthing and other spaces. cargoby2.jpg - Shows a wider shot of the cargo bay and the port and starboard cargo doors are beginning to come into view. cargoby3.jpg - Shows a still wider shot of the cargo bay and cargo doors. The cover to the bridge has been removed in this shot. Floor detail on the cargo floor shows gratings, caution areas, and placement arrows. engine_1.jpg - Since Chief Engineer Failhand Safety is busy overseeing the remainder of ship's construction, Captain Kratur has graciously volunteered Chief Dropspek to serve as a scale for this shot of the yet-to-be installed reactor drives. engine_2.jpg - A much better shot of reactor drives 1, 2, and 3. If you're into old LEGO Technic, then you know what I used for the main reactor parts. Generators Alpha and Bravo hum in the background, and the two yellow hydrogen fuel- shafts can be seen behind reactor drive 3. engine_3.jpg - Not much more revealed in this shot. I'll probably remove the red and green warning lights from the Alpha and Bravo generators before I hook the engine up to the rest of the ship. portside.jpg - Shot showing the whole of the portside exterior as of January 4, 2001. Length of vessel at this time is (as shown by ruler) roughly 20 inches, which corresponds to about 32 scale meters (assuming a ratio of 1 real inch = 1.6 scale meters). Just underneath the port manuever thruster toward the fore of the bridge, you can see the barrels of Turret #1. shipfrnt.jpg - Decent shot of the fore part of the vessel (i.e. the bridge). You can see Captain Kratur staring blankly out at the bustling activity surrounding his vessel-under-construction. More importantly, you can also see Turret #1 (portside), Turret #2 (starboard), and the sensor array, which is a piece I borrowed from LEGO set #6463 Lunar Rover. shipfrt2.jpg - Closeup of the fore part. Commander Sills is rightly wondering what Captain Kratur is so blissfully staring at. solarpnl.jpg - I shouldn't have named this thing "solar panel" because the ship is powered by three fusion reactors, so let's just say that the ship was starting to look like a flying blue shoebox before I tacked these on. Anyway, this is a closeup shot of the portside panel detail. topview.jpg - Top view of the whole vessel as of January 4, 2001, with Chief Dropspek standing about for scale. topview2.jpg - Different angle, no basis for scale comparison (unless you like counting those LEGO bumps). And that's all for now, folks. I need a name for this flying armed-merchant whatchama- -callit.