Magellan Shuttle 05

Despite it's sleek exterior, the Magellan Shuttle is another result of poor communication between the design and marketing departments at Korvadyne. Designed to be a two-man scientific exploration shuttle, The Magellan has been modified by marketing over and over again and is being sold as an inexpensive patrol boat. The science lab was cut in half, reduced to a marginally adequate medical bay and three additional bunks; the sensor systems were reduced in range and variety in lieu of extra armor (still marginally adequate for a patrol boat), and the unique probe launching system was replaced entirely with addition of a secondary defense turret. 

As a two man science vessel the ship was equipped with an elegant pair of engines designed to refuel by passing through stellar bodies of adequate chemical composition (gas giants, nebulae, etc.), and thus access to them for repairs is limited to a couple of removable wall panels in the cargo bay or a series of panels on the exterior that require an E.V.A. or mechanics at a ship yard; not much of a problem for a two-man science shuttle, but a larger inconvenience for a patrol boat.  The only airlock is the rear ramp, again no problem for a science vessel tasked to map and observe stellar phenomena and occasionally land and take physical samples, but awkward at best for a patrol boat likely to engage in boarding actions.  Lastly, one feature commonly necessary for a patrol boat is adequate prisoner facilities.. The Magellan can easily be modified to accommodate prisoners in the cargo bay at an extra cost, but this requires completely contained environmental systems (as the cargobay is the airlock), and makes access to the interior starboard engine panel difficult.

Despite these issues, the platform has been popular amongst traders of expensive cargo, luxury shuttle services (who expand the living space into the cargo bay), and some explorers, despite the reduced capacity as a science vessel. Much to the chagrin of Korvadyne's upper management, Pirates seem to be scooping these up on the secondary market and upgrading the weapon systems for fast assault craft as well..

As with all of my art, this image was rendered in DazStudio 4.6 and post-worked in Photoshop CS5.