The shuttle sort of makes me think of the modern counterpart to Lieutenant Ro's Maquis craft, the smaller version of Val Jean. The thick angular fins at the rear, the presence of stub wings and flared-out hull sides, the relatively long and spacious interior volume... A compact little independent courier rather than a starship auxiliary?
Asymmetric rear lights were a thing in the TOS shuttle already!
The Runaway having (or making use of, i.e. turning on) an enclosed cabin is a big improvement over the Argo and its LDS relatives. The forward prongs make fairly little sense - for obstacle-crossing, they'd have to be articulated somehow, as long wheelbase without good ground clearance between axles is merely a recipe for getting stuck. So I'd expect the forward wheels to swing down, but the aft ones to follow suit, lifting the middle pair, when uneven terrain is encountered. And the shorter legs on the aft wheels would become a problem, then.
The Protostar scaling above makes sense and pleases the eye. Basically, a sleeker Nova, then. Heh, stellar opposites there, one old and indeed dying despite the name, the other still a glint in the gas cloud's eye.
Timo Saloniemi
Asymmetric rear lights were a thing in the TOS shuttle already!
The Runaway having (or making use of, i.e. turning on) an enclosed cabin is a big improvement over the Argo and its LDS relatives. The forward prongs make fairly little sense - for obstacle-crossing, they'd have to be articulated somehow, as long wheelbase without good ground clearance between axles is merely a recipe for getting stuck. So I'd expect the forward wheels to swing down, but the aft ones to follow suit, lifting the middle pair, when uneven terrain is encountered. And the shorter legs on the aft wheels would become a problem, then.
The Protostar scaling above makes sense and pleases the eye. Basically, a sleeker Nova, then. Heh, stellar opposites there, one old and indeed dying despite the name, the other still a glint in the gas cloud's eye.
Timo Saloniemi