Just from observations, it looks like the size of the shield bubble is added to the size of a ship for hit chance (or at least, I get more hits on a ship with shields up vs. when they go down). Is that correct, or am I just seeing things differently? 
Based on observation this is true.
I think cliffski’s release in hit rate is not the whole picture. For example, missile movement speed/turning speed plays a part in chance to hit. Mod a missile with 20 movement speed and they won’t hit anything even with 100 tracking/turn. This is why Scavenger “FLAK” anti fighter can’t hit anything. So I am not surprise to see something else that doesn’t follow the model entirely.
As ir ecall, shield bubbles are a set percentage increase over the size of the parent ship, but hit chances are based purely on the size of the ship. The shield bubble is just visual.
Ooo, thanks!
By the way, I love this game; I used to play FASA’s Battletech all the time and really enjoyed the work that went into making an efficient mech design; unfortunatly there was a ton of paper to manage, it was hard to find other players, and the games took forever.
GSB really takes care of my engine-of-mayhem urges.
you mean, along with the ship’s speed…not purely.
yes indeed, sorry for the confusion, I just meant the size-related calculation part of it. Also note this is the image size, not the actual chunk of the square image that the ship fills. The alliance python looks quite small, but it’s long, and thus a big target to hit.
So if You have a long but narrow ship, it will be just as easy to hit as a ship thats the same leanth but is widder?
Lone Starr
I think he means that the image you see on-screen does not directly relate to the size stat.
Also, hi everyone. First post 
Lonestar had it right, actually.
Hi, Vackris. Welcome aboard the forums!