The Raider, according to star wars wiki, is the same length as the CR-90. Obviously, the model is not the same length as the CR-90 model, but that is not what this is about.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Raider-class_corvette
When I look at ships, I visualize the internals of the ship. I picture the size of the crew, the components needed to operate the ship, the space needed to house and feed the crew, the location of the weapons and how they operate. Here are a few scaling questions I have about the ship, although I am always glad to see new imperial fleet components.

1- While the Raider has significantly less mass than the CR-90, it also appears to have only one drive engine. Would the reduced mass keep the Raider moving at a decent speed with reduced engines? The mass of the reactor and engine would have to take up a large portion of the back of the ship, if we follow the scale of the CR-90 engines. The position of the possible hangar bays limits their size, so at least we know they don't go that far forward.
2- For that matter, what is the exact function of the solar panels? Are they there to generate power? Do they have a dual function for maneuverability? I'll address them in the weapon and sensors portion, too. Are they part of the sensor array, as I do not see any sensor arrays? This isn't really scale related

3- I am assuming that is the bridge at the back of the ship, as in Star Destroyers. If so, scale-wise, it appears that the bridge is recessed in to the ship. What we are looking at seems to be just the waist up part of the bridge. Regardless, having the bridge right on top of the engine make me hope they had adequate reactor shielding. The sound must be dreadful. Also, if the reactor went critical, the bridge is so close, there would be little chance of getting to an escape pod.
4- I'm guessing that those cut outs are docking ports for a couple of snub fighters? It seems that the ship would not be able to do much in the way of support for the ships. Rather, it appears they could, at best, re-supply weapons and fuel, but could do little to provide mechanical support.
5- The weapons are suitably spaced out on top. I have not seen a belly view, so I am not certain if there are defenses on the lower side. I am concerned with the placement of those rear solar arrays, as they appear to only block the attack angles of the rear weapons array. This is another design flaw to be exploited by decent attacking pilots. On the plus side, they also provide protection from external attack. As the majority of the weapons systems appear to be a the front of the ship, it also gives them a better chance of survival in the event of a reactor explosion than the bridge crew has.
6- The crew living quarters must all be at the front. This does give them the best chance to escape if the reactor goes critical. I applaud the Empire for this. The ceiling space may be tight, and they may have to have assigned sleep schedules to maximize bunk space, but that is all part of being in the Empire.
7- Where are the shield generators and sensor arrays? Just asking.

Discuss

@5

If I recall correctly Imperial Warship Design Philosophy considers a rear blind spot to be a minor trade off to angle more weapons on to the forward firing arcs.

Imperial Captains know to always point their nose towards the enemy. It makes their sneering more menacing.

There is a line in 'dark times' where vader tells a mercenary he has employed to toggle all of his shields to the front of his ship

They guy goes, but what if im being chased and vader says 'you work for the empire now, no one is going to be chasing you'.

I imagine imperial fleet policy is to have cheap ties milling around guarding the aft?

Here's a few things to ponder:

1. With all the various forms of drive available, does it have to have a massive reactor and thruster assembly. TIE fighter's engines are incredibly small compared to any Rebel ship. What's to say that the Raider doesn't use some kind of small but efficient engine.
2. Solar panels. Possibly to connect the overall look of the ship to the Imperial fighters more as a visual aesthetic than anything else. Are they supposed to be solar panels. We all know the fighters have similar appendages that are solar panels, but these could quite possibly have an entirely different function. They could be a sensor array, they could be shield projectors. They still look like solar panels, though.
3. You seem concerned that the bridge is too close to a reactor going critical. If a reactor goes critical, I doubt an escape pod is going to get you far enough away in time anyway. Maybe the whole bridge ejects and becomes it's own powered lifeboat. I can't see any noticeable escape pods on it. Maybe for the Imperial crew, escape is not an option.
4. Cut-outs: The TIE/x1 card shows a TIE Adv on a docking frame. Could be it attaches to here. Could also be a main weapon battery.
5. Weapons. They seem evenly spaced and the smaller protrusions on the top (I would assume there would be matching ones underneath) are probably associated with the fore section's fire arc. The aft section has a wide side arc, but we can't see the weapons for this, so anybody's guess there too.
6. Judging by the size of the bridge and lack of any other viewports, I'd estimate a very small crew. There's not much room for many staterooms with that design. And a lack of any other viewports seems to strengthen the theory.
7. As much as I know some folks hate it, I'm going to make a Star Trek comparison here. The sensor array might be similar to a Trek ship's lateral sensors in that they are conformal with the outer edge of the hull thus eliminating the need for a big dish type antennae. Maybe those panels have a dual purpose with the sensors.

At the end of the day, FFG designed it as a playing piece. Did they want to worry about internals or external fittings? It doesn't appear so and I doubt it. Did they want it to look cool? Yes, and they managed to get that bit right. Did the Wookiepedia article exist this morning? No it didn't.

Yup

They needed an imperial huge ship of certain dimensions that screamed 'imperial' at you. Nothing in the EU really did it as well as this so they made an excellent looking gaming piece.

Good stuff FFG

Reminds me of those Sith Empire ships, aggressive, imposing, intimidating and angular.

Seriously, It looks like a ship the Emperor would have one of his Fists use... Mira Jade perhaps or an Inquisitor.

Obviously, the model is not the same length as the CR-90 model

I must have missed this memo. It looks to be the same size to me.

1. I always figured Imperial ion engines were much more efficient, at least size-wise, than Rebel equivalents. TIEs have tiny red dots and -Wings have large glowy exhausts.

2. The solar panels are kinda like the Kessel Run 12 parsec thing, but without the viable scientific explanation. Lucas is an idea guy, and figured solar power would be a thing in the future. Struggling here, but if I had to No-Prize it I would say they radiate ionizing charge built up by the engines into space somehow.

3. Lifeboats on a ship that size aren't really a thing. But the 'eject the whole bridge' idea sounds good to me.

4. The x1 upgrade card is highly reminiscent of the launch sequence from the 90s TIE Fighter PC game. I wouldn't imagine the Raider is anywhere near big enough to provide meaningful field repair to a space fighter. 'Dry dock' stuff like that is Star Destroyer territory only. If a Star Destroyer is a battleship/aircraft carrier, the Decimator is a Coast Guard cutter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island-class_patrol_boat), and the Raider is a frigate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Hazard_Perry-class_frigate). None of the latter can support fighters.

5. As much as I hate quoting Family Guy, the Empire really does pay by the laser. The iconic wedge shape is so as to allow all guns to fire directly forward. Why the rear section only has side arcs...?

6. I think we are underestimating the relative size of the ship. A frigate-sized ship has a complement of 100-200, and while the space is probably cramped I think the bridge is not 'waist-high'. Compare the bridge to the faceted cockpit glass of the TIE Advanced next to it. While it's hard to tell objectively how large the TIE is we can compare it to the more conventional setup of an X-Wing or A-Wing which we can assume is the same size as a contemporary jet fighter cockpit. With all that in mind the windows on the Raider are probably quite large, more on the scale of the bridges windows we see in Star Destroyers in the Original Trilogy.

7. IRL sensors don't need to be large or even external. The radar in most contemporary fighter jets is inside the nosecone. As for the shields, those two raised panels on top of the bridge could be them.

I love the idea of a small group of Raiders jumping into an enemy's rear area, destroying some infrastructure and jumping out.

Small, fast, deadly. At least, that's how I see this beautiful, pretty ship.

1. I always figured Imperial ion engines were much more efficient, at least size-wise, than Rebel equivalents. TIEs have tiny red dots and -Wings have large glowy exhausts.

2. The solar panels are kinda like the Kessel Run 12 parsec thing, but without the viable scientific explanation. Lucas is an idea guy, and figured solar power would be a thing in the future. Struggling here, but if I had to No-Prize it I would say they radiate ionizing charge built up by the engines into space somehow.

3. Lifeboats on a ship that size aren't really a thing. But the 'eject the whole bridge' idea sounds good to me.

4. The x1 upgrade card is highly reminiscent of the launch sequence from the 90s TIE Fighter PC game. I wouldn't imagine the Raider is anywhere near big enough to provide meaningful field repair to a space fighter. 'Dry dock' stuff like that is Star Destroyer territory only. If a Star Destroyer is a battleship/aircraft carrier, the Decimator is a Coast Guard cutter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island-class_patrol_boat), and the Raider is a frigate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Hazard_Perry-class_frigate). None of the latter can support fighters.

5. As much as I hate quoting Family Guy, the Empire really does pay by the laser. The iconic wedge shape is so as to allow all guns to fire directly forward. Why the rear section only has side arcs...?

6. I think we are underestimating the relative size of the ship. A frigate-sized ship has a complement of 100-200, and while the space is probably cramped I think the bridge is not 'waist-high'. Compare the bridge to the faceted cockpit glass of the TIE Advanced next to it. While it's hard to tell objectively how large the TIE is we can compare it to the more conventional setup of an X-Wing or A-Wing's which we can assume is the same size as a contemporary jet fighter cockpit. With all that in mind the windows on the Raider are probably quite large, more on the scale of the bridges windows we see in Star Destroyers in the Original Trilogy.

7. IRL sensors don't need to be large or even external. The radar in most contemporary fighter jets is inside the nosecone. As for the shields, those two raised panels on top of the bridge could be them.

As an excoastie, I appreciate your use of my service here, but I'm not sure I agree. Typically we are a peacetime service (though under new management (dept Homeland security) they might serve more aggressively in the future), and the raider seems to be a small escort carrier (all be it a small squadron ship).

I can see it with a 12 ship squad or at the extreme a 2 squad carrier, with support for the ships... maybe a shuttle or two, or a couple decimators.

1. Judging by the size of the bridge and lack of any other viewports, I'd estimate a very small crew. There's not much room for many staterooms with that design. And a lack of any other viewports seems to strengthen the theory

3. Lifeboats on a ship that size aren't really a thing. But the 'eject the whole bridge' idea sounds good to me.

6. I think we are underestimating the relative size of the ship. A frigate-sized ship has a complement of 100-200, and while the space is probably cramped I think the bridge is not 'waist-high'. Compare the bridge to the faceted cockpit glass of the TIE Advanced next to it. While it's hard to tell objectively how large the TIE is we can compare it to the more conventional setup of an X-Wing or A-Wing which we can assume is the same size as a contemporary jet fighter cockpit. With all that in mind the windows on the Raider are probably quite large, more on the scale of the bridges windows we see in Star Destroyers in the Original Trilogy.

i agree that it wouldn't have a large crew. even the cr-90 does not have a large crew. i would say 30 per shift ~90 regular with room for short term assault troops.

how i determine scale is to actually print out a paper replica of a ship with a scaled human next to it. i admit i have not done it with this, as i will have to measure angles, but i do have a printout of a cr-90. i also have a disturbingly large excel spreadsheet of most of the ships in star wars with their scales. it makes it easy to see how certain ships would function. for example, the printout of the neb-b frigate showed easily how it could not possibly hold the tie compliment it is reported to carry without sacrificing a lot of space previously dedicated to other functions (note, the previous compliment of ties was based on the inaccurate scaling of ties from the weg era). the document from ffg lists the length at 150m which is the same as a cr-90. from the length, we can start to calculate the height and width. keep in mind, a cr-90 and the raider, to scale with the ships, is 1.84 feet long.

i do concede that the model may be the same length as the cr-90 model. if so, awesome.

i consider the ships to be designed more like submarines than surface ships. surface ships have easy access to air, for the most part, and can even get potable water from rain. submarines have to have more in the way of environment controls and have to carry potable water (or generate it from surrounding water, but i digress). they have to have stores of supplies or adequate recycling systems. they have to have bunks for the crew, quarters for the officers, an armory for weapons, just to name a few things.

i do this because, as a star wars geek, i can.

Do keep in mind though that on small subs you can have things like 2-3 guys sharing a bunk in shifts and when they first ship out boxes of supplies piled in hallways and staterooms because there isn't enough storage space.

Do keep in mind though that on small subs you can have things like 2-3 guys sharing a bunk in shifts and when they first ship out boxes of supplies piled in hallways and staterooms because there isn't enough storage space.

Surface ships sometimes do the same thing.. 'hot racking' is a thing.. lol.. if stuff is in the main passageway, you tie that $h!+ down.. lol

Do keep in mind though that on small subs you can have things like 2-3 guys sharing a bunk in shifts and when they first ship out boxes of supplies piled in hallways and staterooms because there isn't enough storage space.

i do. my friend nick is a submariner and i consult with him when i look at these things

the empire would also use droids for some of the more mundane tasks and to save on supplies and space.

this is where i generate the 30 to 90 people as crew.

The Raider, according to star wars wiki, is the same length as the CR-90. Obviously, the model is not the same length as the CR-90 model,

why is it obvious that the two models are not the same length? did i miss something?

I actually think it might be a little bit longer(not by much), comparing the bases and the space between.

This was posted by patox in another thread

I imagine Ugnaughts and Imperial astromechs working on the ship, some of those spaces in the prow have to be pretty tight.

The announcement article says it's an original design, but I kept thinking I'd seen it something similar before:

http://swtor.wikia.com/wiki/Centurion-class_battlecruiser

Obviously not the same size by any stretch but similar design.

Dark Lady

Again different scale, but similar TIE fighter panels.

Rouge Shadow

This is may be the one that I was trying to remember,

because the Raider's panel extensions don't look entirely original to me.

The CR-90 was a freighter and passenger hauler, so you might make a case for all of the engines concentrated in the back to make more room up front.

The Raider was designed for intimidation and war, so you might incorporate the engines lengthwise and build the rest of the ship around them instead of just putting it in the rear.

Crew wise, the CR-92a Assassin class Corvette had a crew between 60 and 150, so I think you can expect the Raider to have somewhere around 80 to 100 and you can easily fit that number in there without having to share beds I think, even if part of the interior is taken up with the engine.

This is not a long distance ship after all, this is system defense, hit and fade operations and quick strikes, so you wouldn't need large storage areas or extensive sick bays. In, out, back in a few days.

Also remember the Cr-90 is an OLD design. At least 52 BBY at the start of its operational life. Also CEC designed them for rugged customization, and to me, most importantly, its a commercial vessel. Its not going to have a military grade reactor or engine setup.

The Raider on the other hand, could easily have a cutting edge reactor, both smaller and with higher output than other reactors. Solar panels could either support the reactor, or be some sort of heat vane. Also, look carefully, in the picture of the Raider in-box, it looks likes there's a smaller engine nozzle on top of the main one. I imagine in keeping with most Imperial designs we've seen, there'll be a smaller one below it.

As far as shields go, IIRC the bridge deflector domes were just that: Specialized BRIDGE deflector shield generators. There is no way any design that had its shields go down as soon as two huge unarmored domes got popped would make it into actual service. Most cap ship combats i ever read had ships shields giving out in short order when engaged in slugging matches, so it'd be a safe bet that the bridge would have incredibly potent shields that could stand up to sustained barrages.

Also remember the Cr-90 is an OLD design.

Well the Falcon was built ten years before that. .

Without seeing the Raider from more angles, we can't say for sure, but I don't think it is a carrier _at all_. I don't see a docking bay, or room for one. And it makes sense that a small ship designed to take on fighters would be designed without a fighter compliment at all.

Too, recall that they are pairing the Raider with a Tie Advanced- the only Tie (at the time of the Raider's design) to have a hyperdrive. I wouldn't be surprised if it had 2-3 Lambda shuttles on board- the equivalent of a Seahawk on an Arleigh Burke.

Also, for completeness sake: corvette and frigate are the same thing, but the US uses the designation "destroyer escort". And the Raider is a great escort for a Star Destroyer. Fiction lied to me and destroyed my pun.

Who thought it was a carrier? Nothing in the article suggests that.