Subscribe to download
Skipjack Tunnel Master mk3

UPDATE: The advent of hydrogen rebalance in the game as well as the higher gravity of Pertam caused operation of this ship to become difficult. I've added four additional up thrusters, eight additional down thrusters near the rear, and two additional forward thrusters to overcome the additional down thrusters to move the tunneler forward. My survival tests on multiple planets, including Pertam, show that this revised tunneler now performs much better than before. I've also added a forward camera for remote operation (if desired) and a down camera to help with alignment over the guide rail. As a caution, however, move the tunneler forward slowly to avoid jamming the drills by quickly tapping the forward movement key; the additional thrusters help with counteracting this ship's tendency to tip forward.

Have you ever wanted to punch a really straight tunnel into a hill or asteroid? Now you can with Spiff's Skipjack Tunnel Master! Designed as a low-budget solution for tunnel creation, this ship will clear a tunnel of any length with a finished inside size of 9-blocks wide and 5-blocks high for installation of airtight hangar doors. Optionally extending the tunneler's drill grid will correspondingly expand the tunnel's size.

The tunneling process is simple:

1. Build part of the tunnel's floor to establish its level and direction.

2. On top of the tunnel floor, lay a single row of armor block scaffolds going into the ground; hand-drill as necessary to provide clearance for yourself and this single row of blocks; the armor block scaffold assembly is the tunneling guide.

3. Using hotkey {9}, engage the hydrogen thrusters and fly the tunneler over and positioned onto the armor block scaffold guide.

4. Using hotkey {8}, engage the downward facing hydrogen thrusters to provide a clamping force onto the guide.

5. Select drills {1}, right-click and hold for clearing, and rapidly tap the forward key to nudge the tunneler forward, watching that it does not bind and rotate forward; if it gets caught, just keep tapping the forward key lightly until it unsticks.

6. Drill as far (deep) as desired, extending the guide, if desired.

7. Remove the tunneler, grind off the guide scaffold, and finish the tunnel with armor blocks.

SHIP STATISTICS
- PCUs: 9,341
- Blocks: 537
- Empty Mass: 70 tons
- NO MODS, NO DLC, NO SUBGRIDS (except for the wheels which project correctly, regardless of the nag message)

NOTES FOR BUILDING WITH A PROJECTOR
The projector's grid pivot block is the rear connector, so set the projector's vertical offset to place the contact point for the projection to the bottom surface of the connector.