Thanks, Gents,
The original plan was to buils something a lot closer to the Eagle Transporter in appearance, but it wasn't coming out right, then when I saw some Dan Dare stuff online, I knew i had my vibe . . .
The inspiration for the gold windows came from the Apollo spacesuit helmets, to reflect the harsh light and radiation, in space.
The vertical launch came from Dan Dare, the ships there use a ramp launch and vertical landing. My concept is to use the same method as the Ryan X-13, vertical descent to a hover, then hook onto a vertical platform, then lower to horizontal for unloading, etc., then return to vertical for blast-off !
cheers,
Robin.