Overview

The Eternal Silence is a small but heavily armed and armored transport ship.
Ships of this type are popular with mercenaries and small private cargo
operators. They are revered for their sturdiness and versatility, being well
suited to a variety of tasks from high-risk cargo, to VIP transport, courier
services, commando operations and even close air support.

It can theoretically be flown by two people, although a typical crew will have 
at least four (pilot, co-pilot/gunner, engineer, assistant engineer). Without 
additional passenger modules, it has berthing space for up to 13 people. Travel 
time without refueling/resupplying is on the order of several weeks.


Background

The exterior is supposed to convey that the ship is armor plating over a bare 
hull. I had the overall external shape laid out for quite some time before
deciding on further details. It is inspired in part by a ship from a rather obscure 
computer game also called Eternal Silence. Further inspiration for the exterior 
comes from the Mass Effect games, as well as Apache attack helicopters and 
submarines. Inspiration for the interior comes from every submarine and museum 
ship I have ever been to.

When designing the interior I ran into two problems. Firstly, I didn't know what
to put into the ship, making the rooms look bland and empty. Secondly, it didn't
really feel like I was building a real spaceship because the machinery I did put
in looked random and without pupose. Then it hit me: these two problems solve 
each other! What I would need to do was approach the build as if I was designing
an actual spaceship. A generator would not just stand around, it would need
fuel. The landing gear would need motors to move, requiring power lines leading 
to them and so on.

So I went full hardcore. I laid out a ventilation system for the ship, a 
hydraulic system, emergency evacuation routes, fuel lines, maneuvering 
thrusters, almost every part I put in has at least a pretend purpose. This greatly 
increased the "density" of the ship as well as doubling the fun I had building 
it. The result is a ship exactly the way I envisioned it: crammed, utilitarian, 
minimalistic.

The entire ship was created in LeoCAD and rendered in POVRay

Dimensions:

Part count: 19777
Length: 222 studs (176 cm / 69 in)
Width: 64 studs ( 135 cm / 53 in)
Height: 40 bricks (38 cm / 15 in)


"Real-life" dimensions:

(Assuming a scale of 1 ft per stud and 6/5 ft per brick)
Length: (67.6 m / 222 ft)
Width: (19.5 m / 64 ft)
Height: (14.6 / 48 ft)

Additional data:
Build time: ca. 200 hours
Time from first concept to completion: >2 years
Render time: ca. 8 hours (78 pictures) at 2000x1500