[WIP] The Maw - Industrial Capital Ship

Alright, so here's the current stage of building:
(view from above, starboard aft)

(view from below, starboard foreward)



I've actually no idea anymore what "% complete" the entire thing is as a whole. I'm still just laying down the final hull layout; totaling 96 frames (vertical bulkheads, for the non-naval), and 18 decks. Frame spacing is every 6th block, or 10 meters between frames. I don't expect to detail the entirety of that space, much of it will wind up being cargo, or simply have the planned compartments carved out as needed, the rest remaining as structural elements. Now, for the stats:

793m stem to stern (long) main hull. Forward doors extend an additional 18m when closed.
125m abeam (wide).
125m in height.
805.1 x 10^6 Kg (or 805 million)
Crew: It can of course be operated by one player, however for optimal performance, I would recommend a minimum of 4. 1 pilot/captain, 1 "engineer" for managing propulsion systems in flight, 1 flight officer to handle hangar functions, and 1 pilot one of the support craft.

Systems status:

Hull,

Salvage head, or "Maw," ~90% complete; functional. Detail work is all that's really left to do (like close up the exposed bits). Approximately 1k grinders, 800 of which are mounted to the main hull. Each door is triple-hinged, and can be mag-locked to prevent unintended movement during maneuvering. Also gyro-stabilized to reduce contact damage at hinge limits.

Gravity well intake, 100% complete; tuning and balance may be tweaked later. Capable of pulling anything with a gravity-affected mass, inside for rapid materials reclamation. Comprised of 5 gravity generators on the main hull, and one set of 4 on a rotating axle mounted to each door.

CIC, 0%; still in planning.

Hangar bay(s), 0%; still in planning, anticipating 4 total different models of support craft, 10+ complement.

Machine compartments 1&2, ~90%; each consists of 8 refineries and 8 assemblers. Detail work still needs to be done.

Cargo bays, 0%.

Medical facilities, 0%.

Habitation systems, 5%. Minimal gravity generators for internal gravity in place.

Defensive systems, 0%.

Conventional propulsion, 0%.

Gravity propulsion, ~50%. Designs not finalized, nor balanced and tuned. It does work though. And it can get it up to 105 fairly quickly... definitely NOT for maneuvering, however.

Gyroscopes, 0%. Not counting those in the salvage system.

Conveyor network, ~20%.

Power system, ~20%.

Other Interior Elements; Not Specified, ~5%.

Associated craft:

These aren't really done yet, except for two design attempts at a salvage corvette, since it's still probably easier to tow the intended salvage into the maw, than it is to lug the maw, to it.


I really don't expect this thing to be seriously "playable" at this point... or ever, with the fps I get in and around it, which I think is actually a rare case of GPU lag, and not physics (it's currently still a station in physics terms). So, this will probably just be for show. But I intend to at least get it technically fully functional.

I'm also making revisions as I go, when needed. So, nothing is really final, other than probably the general shape. Which started in my head as something like the "Planet Killer" from Original Star Trek, based on the maw at the front. Now it's starting to shape more into either the "Whale Ship" from Star Trek IV, or a "Heighliner" from Dune.

There are other pictures from earlier into development, here: https://imgur.com/a/uWcSu#0

 

Uhm so it just a big... tube?

 

Kinda, yeah, when you put it that way

Though considering that due to the size of the maw on the front, and what it does (eat ships for breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snacks...), something cylindrical was the best option: it does the-salvaging-whole-ships-at-a-time thing, not GET-salvaged-whole thing.

And then there's also internal layout (which I'm about to start on, actually) to consider: I'm designing and building this based on naval conventions, simple shapes are easier to lay out in advance, and then build into. Partially because I'm also using this as a major learning experience, and I'm more concerned with function over outward flash. The "flash" will be in the ship's capabilities, since even though it IS primarily "just" an industrial vessel, it's also definitely big enough to be classed as a mothership (think Homeworld). I don't think a ship of that class should be remotely easy to destroy/assault (not to mention the inevitable collision with scrap), and again, simple shapes are easier to reinforce and repair.

I also want it to have a sheer metric frak-ton of cargo capacity.

 

Update: Well, after finishing the superstructure and outer hull, as well as finishing the external bridge, this thing has become a true lag-monster... So, I'm working on shaving it down a bit. I've sliced out ~260m from the length, which in itself has resulted in nearly-playable levels of low fps. I should at least be able to get far enough in to be able cut the excess blocks down a bit further, at least.