Modified MCT-240 Light Transport "Scorpion"
by Rune-Scribe
This started as a turret design that got a little out of hand.
Many medium-size sci-fi ships have really poor weapon coverage, with quite large blind spots.
From this premise, I started thinking about how to get near-360 coverage with as few turrets as possible.
This evolved into a turret mount that could pivot 180 to cover a half-sphere area on either side of a ship.
At this point, I did a bunch of tinkering with gearing, to get the turret to keep its orientation as it pivoted.
From this kernel, I concepted out a smuggler ship, originating as a small cargo tug, since that is something where only a single turret might make sense.
When building out the ship, I connected the gunner's seat to the turret gears, so it would rotate in line with the turret.
The end result was a small, two person transport, with a rear-mounted turret, and two magnetic clamps on each side for attaching cargo.
The pilot's seat is also on a gravity pivot, allowing any orientation of the ship to be "up".
There's even room for a bed, for long-haul trips.
