A wile back in Sketchup I designed a starship. Inspired by shows like the Expanse or websites like Starfleet Museum which depict spaceships was being vertically stacked. That is, the decks are perpendicular to the direction of thrust, rather than horizontal. These starships are better seen as buildings with engines bolted to the bottom rather than like boats.
I designed the Vespa for a science fiction novella serial based on the crew of the Swiatek & their missions in space. Ships are meant to be characters in of themselves, so knowing them intimately isn’t just appropriate, but necessary.
Overview
The Vespa is a system patrol corvette. It has a small weapons armament, a small contingency of espatiers (space marines). The main purpose of the vessel is to patrol from one to three star systems, scouting for pirate and raider activity, as well as performing orbital and deep space rescue missions. There is limited atmospheric capability.
The ship has a smallish crew of 28 orbitants plus the contingent of 18 espatiers, for a total of 46 personnel. The interior sections are massively cramped as a result, so leg room & privacy are hard to find. But that’s life in the can.
The ship has a rounded, egg-shaped pressurized section referred to as the Hab. This area contains all crew-habitable areas (hence the name), the power generator and attachment points for the radiator fins and engines. Below that is the fuel tank, rear sensor platform and FTL drive. The nature of which I have yet to explore…
Deck Detail
The Swiatek hab portion of 11 decks The decks are reinforced through radial ribs that extend from the central column (containing wiring, plumbing, and the primary ventilation channel.)
The lowest level is the power generator, a simple fusion tokamak. Not featured: the shielding for it. There is a spot above it for emergency fuel.
A-Deck
Miscellaneous sensor package and life support equipment.
B-Deck
Junior enlisted quarters. Rooms are tiny and cramped. Each room has a foyer and a closet. A small latrine sits on the ventral side. 4 rooms of 4 racks, hot-bunking is required for up to 32 personnel.
C-Deck
Additional life support equipment, water storage, etc. As well as make-shift crew recreation areas. The purple sections are missile storage racks and the EPWCS equipment rooms.
D-Deck
Bottom level of the EPWCS equipment room, second level of the missile storage racks. As well, senior enlisted quarters. Accommodations: 10.
E-Deck
Mezzanine storage area in cargo bay.
F-Deck
Bottom level of the cargo bay. Under the mezzanine structure is the operations area the missile system, pod bay (which extends down two more decks, latrine space, and secure storage room.
G-Deck
Command & control, adjoining conference and system rooms. As well, medical bay and security/armory area.
H-Deck
Galley & mess (green), as well as officer rooms (light blue.) Total accommodations: 5
I-Deck
Laundry rooms, workshops, miscellaneous storage, espatier equipment room, and main engineering. There’s a ladder way downward into the generator compartment.
Other areas not featured or not quite detailed yet.
I haven’t tried modeling any of the internal equipment or furniture yet, which looks like a fun project. moving forward.
Later on I’ll detail the crew of this specific ship and key characters.