KAS/KIS building in space help

[Hs.Panda]

I have KAS & KIS, and extraplanetary launch pads (which allows me to build precreated assemblies/sub assemblies in space) so i figured instead of building a space station on the ground i'd launch the basics into orbit and then build the rest in orbit:

Problem is i cant move heavy things over 1t with just 1 kerbal, i know i need to have more kerbals to move more things but.

 

How do i keep my kerbals from floating away in 0g so i can move parts around using KAS?

Edited January 1, 2018 by Hs.Panda

[Tyko]

37 minutes ago, Hs.Panda said:

I have KAS & KIS, and extraplanetary launch pads (which allows me to build precreated assemblies/sub assemblies in space) so i figured instead of building a space station on the ground i'd launch the basics into orbit and then build the rest in orbit:

Problem is i cant move heavy things over 1t with just 1 kerbal, i know i need to have more kerbals to move more things but.

 

How do i keep my kerbals from floating away in 0g so i can move parts around using KAS?

On option is to bring up a bunch of the short 3 rung ladders. The kerbals can bolt those to the side of your craft near where they need to work. When they're done, just unbolt the ladders and move them

[Superfluous J]

If you don't mind modding your mods, you can also change the mass limit in the configs. It's been a long time so I don't remember the specifics but it shouldn't be hard to find.

Of course you could consider that "cheating" but think of all the time you'll save not wrangling ladders onto the sides of your craft and Kerbals onto those ladders.

[Geonovast]

3 hours ago, Tyko said:

On option is to bring up a bunch of the short 3 rung ladders. The kerbals can bolt those to the side of your craft near where they need to work. When they're done, just unbolt the ladders and move them

This is what I do.  When I do heavy orbital construction, all the Kerbals just carry around a ladder and weld it on wherever they need it, then remove and stash it when they're done.

[Tyko]

3 hours ago, Geonovast said:

This is what I do.  When I do heavy orbital construction, all the Kerbals just carry around a ladder and weld it on wherever they need it, then remove and stash it when they're done.

If you're doing this all the time it might be worthwhile to create a quick new part by scaling down the 3 rung ladder to something more the size of a handhold. Maybe 1/4 the size and 1/16 the weight.

[fourfa]

Ven’s Part Revamp has a whole series of long ladders in the stock style, they’re very useful. Might just grab those couple of parts if you don’t want to install the whole pack

[Hs.Panda]

Thx for the suggestions i did a combination of kerbals carrying ladders and made a grabbing utility arm using infernal robotics (i unno why i didnt think of that sooner )

[Hs.Panda]

Going to necro this slightly because i have a new question but about pretty much the same thing:

Building a planetary base now (same concept, peice by peice via building it on site ) but trying to attach modules to the ground plates, while at the same time connect them to the rest of the base, so i guess trying to attach 2 nodes at once i guess?  Is this doable?

And/or is there a way to "attach" parts that are super super close/touching to each other without my kerbal picking up the item first....i.e. using a mechanical arm to hold the part in place and just having my kerbal weld them together? Or even having the mechanical arm attach them like a kerbal can (im ok if this requires a mod) 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Hs.Panda

[HvP]

On 1/6/2018 at 10:12 PM, Hs.Panda said:

Going to necro this slightly because i have a new question but about pretty much the same thing:

Building a planetary base now (same concept, peice by peice via building it on site ) but trying to attach modules to the ground plates, while at the same time connect them to the rest of the base, so i guess trying to attach 2 nodes at once i guess?  Is this doable?

And/or is there a way to "attach" parts that are super super close/touching to each other without my kerbal picking up the item first....i.e. using a mechanical arm to hold the part in place and just having my kerbal weld them together? Or even having the mechanical arm attach them like a kerbal can (im ok if this requires a mod) 

I'm not 100% sure how you're trying to build your base but I'd be careful about trying to attach items near the ground with KIS/KAS. If a part intersects the ground, or falls into the ground while you are attaching it then it will usually explode.

And no you cannot connect two nodes simultaneously, but you can join together two parts and then pick up the combined parts by the first part and attach them to something else. I know the manual says that you can't do this, but an update made it possible.

Edited January 9, 2018 by HvP