ErikB said:

That would work for a justification IF the Ghtroc was a tugboat. It's not. My point was the ship was obviously designed to look like a turtle first, then the deckplans had to be justified by some irregularities. Not a biggy really for me. The overly-obvious turtle look is what I dislike the ship.

I suppose a nice redact for the Ghtroc was it IS a tugboat and the architect grew up on planet Ysillari known for a certain, famous sea creature.
 

ErikB said:

If it was I would be fine with that. Why the difference? Because it isn't obvious at all. I, and I think the masses of fans, never thought of it as a hamburger at all. It's the obvious inspiration that screams out at you, TURTLE IN SPAAACCCCE!!!!, that I dislike in the Ghtroc.

I had always thought the Falcon was inspired by a UFO flying disc with gadgets added. And yes, I disliked the justification of the "loading arms" also at the front of the Falcon. Those arms don't look like they could grab ahold of anything very easily. They obviously can't be used to load the Falcon itself. Was the YT-1300 intended to be used to load other, larger craft with cargo? If so, I've never heard of that mentioned anywhere.

Of course I've never designed a cool looking Star Wars craft myself that makes scientific sense, so I should just shut up, I agree. :) I still have used the Ghtroc as a player vehicle in past campaigns even if I think it is slightly ridiculous.

It has a certain symmetry I find myself liking. The Millennium Falcon is a fine ship, but that cockpit mounted off on one side of it, I always thought that looked a bit dumb, and that, maybe, one side of the part the Captain sat in was a bit less well-protected than the other. A number of the "better" ships in Star Wars have that odd, asymmetrical appearance to them, and it helps us remember them, maybe, but I appreciate that this ship looks the same on both sides.

venkelos said:

I agree.  Also, it's a pretty good ship stat-wise.   It might not look like much but it is the fastest most useful of the three ships for general use.

Unknown said:

Hee hee… this image you've linked was created specifically for my old WEG gaming group and website, Elrood Sector: Tales of the Freespirit, by Pete 'Shadowdeep' Schough about ten years ago. See that cotterdam docking tube on the craft's starboard 'shoulder'? That's a customization my players added (along with the ventral ion cannon). To see this ship really in action, check out this extraordinary oil painting that Pete also did for us:

Nice to see the ol' girl again…  :*)

This is the best ship I've ever seen!