Open Source Construction Techniques for Craft Aesthetics

[Kerbal-fan]

who knows how to make an arm (i have the expansion)

i want a very movabale arm but i use the blue telescopic and hinges and rotation servos to make it so that it could reach anything 

but when i make it its just so weak and usually messes the whole mission 

so any one ideas ?

[Kerbal-fan]

how do i make stock glass ?????

[The Dressian Exploder]

Stock glass doesn't exist...

[Servo]

On 2/11/2021 at 1:36 PM, Kerbal-fan said:

how do i make stock glass ?????

 

On 2/13/2021 at 2:40 AM, The Dressian Exploder said:

Stock glass doesn't exist...

 

Flag parts using with semi-transparent flag textures. This example is from Commie_Killer76:

[The Dressian Exploder]

Whoa. I didn't even know you could have partially transparent flag textures!

[OrdinaryKerman]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:22 PM, The Dressian Exploder said:

Whoa. I didn't even know you could have partially transparent flag textures!

That's always been possible

[Davi SDF]

Hello! I see that this thread has been stagnant for a year, wich is quite sad, because it has some great tips!

So, i made a quick and simple post about something i haven't seen to be talked about here, wich are fairing engines (without mods)!

NOTE: i am using Restock, however, it does not affect the process. You can do the same things i did with a completely stock game.
ALSO: Yes, this could be considered cheating, as you can clip many engines in to a small space. But if you want to, you could just add one!

First, you will need a fairing, i chose the simple 1.25 meters fairing.

Spoiler

 

You will need to flip it upside down:

Spoiler

 

Then, you start making your combustion chamber:

Spoiler

 

Then you make the throat and the engine bell:

Spoiler

 

You can change the fairing color so it looks better, i chose a metalic color.

Spoiler

 

Now, add your engines of choice! I chose the Mastodon, great engines due to their radial attachment!

Spoiler

 

Almost done! Now you have to de-activate the fairing expansion and it's staging.

Spoiler

 

Good, now, if you want to, you can make a Boat-tail using larger fairings!

Spoiler

 

De-activate it's staging too...

Spoiler

 

And done! (NOTE: this might look better than in stock due to Restock and WaterFall, but i assure you, you can make great engines with this technique!)

Spoiler

 

You can use  fairings to make MANY things! Like a huge TurboJet as an example:

Spoiler

 

Or a low power and efficient engine:

Spoiler

 

OR Sea-Dragon worthy engines!

Spoiler

; )

Basically, you can use fairings to make custom looking engines. Imagine all types of engines! Huge! Weird! HUMONGOUS! Nuclear!

You can even make dual mode engines by adding two diferent engines onto the same Fairing Engine!

Thank you for reading this, i hope you have some ideas for great engines! I wish you all well. Bye!

Edited March 12, 2022 by Davi SDF
Typos and formating

[Mephisto81]

Shenaningans with drag and engine plates!

Fairings and engine plates are both useful for drag shielding.
Engines plates can also support many more nodes than intended!

For reasons unknown, engine plates with a shroud do not only shield the attached parts at the back, but also the part at the front.
We can use this, to shield the whole body of a craft from drag:

This is a very small and basic lander for JNSQ. The whole body, the engines and the docking port at the back are shielded from drag. Only the engine plate itself produces a small amount of drag.
As slowing down with a dragless body is impractical, wings and elevons provide lift and drag when needed for reentry and crossrange capabilities.

A 1.25m fairing is the basis.

An engine plate is added to the fairing. Shrouded engine plates have some unique features: they shield the parts at the back from drag AND they shield the part in front of it from drag as well for reasons unknown. This way, the fairing, the engines and the docking port are shielded from drag.

To activate the shroud, a part needs to be added at the back. Here, a reaction wheel is added to activate the shroud and the magical shielding properties. In this state, the reaction wheel would still produce significant amount of frontal plate drag. To avoid this, it is later offset inside the fairing to be shielded as well.

 

There is a trick to add more items to the engine plate:

after we have already used the 4+1 nodes (the docking port is offset for a better view), the engine plate can set again to new nodes, where additional parts can be added, all shielded from drag when inside the shroud.

Time for a check on the runway! All relevant parts are dragless. Only the elevons, the wings and the airbrake now produce drag (and lift).

Link to the craft:
https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/Dolphin-Mk-I-dragless-lander-for-JNSQ

Link to the imgur album with the whole construction process:
https://imgur.com/gallery/KAeSTGX

 

-Mephisto-
(Flying like a leaf in the wind! Without drag? How?)

 

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Mephisto81
Formating.

[Zacspace]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:44 PM, Mephisto81 said:

Fairings and engine plates are both useful for drag shielding.

I had no idea that engine plates had any aerodynamic effect at all! In my SSTOs I used structural tubes and fairings to achieve the same result. I could probably both improve them and eliminate the making history dependency with this technique.

[Astra Infinitum]

On 2/16/2022 at 2:04 PM, Davi SDF said:

Hello! I see that this thread has been stagnant for a year, wich is quite sad, because it has some great tips!

So, i made a quick and simple post about something i haven't seen to be talked about here, wich are fairing engines (without mods)!

NOTE: i am using Restock, however, it does not affect the process. You can do the same things i did with a completely stock game.
ALSO: Yes, this could be considered cheating, as you can clip many engines in to a small space. But if you want to, you could just add one!

First, you will need a fairing, i chose the simple 1.25 meters fairing.

  Hide contents

 

You will need to flip it upside down:

  Hide contents

 

Then, you start making your combustion chamber:

  Hide contents

 

Then you make the throat and the engine bell:

  Hide contents

 

You can change the fairing color so it looks better, i chose a metalic color.

  Hide contents

 

Now, add your engines of choice! I chose the Mastodon, great engines due to their radial attachment!

  Hide contents

 

Almost done! Now you have to de-activate the fairing expansion and it's staging.

  Hide contents

 

Good, now, if you want to, you can make a Boat-tail using larger fairings!

  Hide contents

 

De-activate it's staging too...

  Hide contents

 

And done! (NOTE: this might look better than in stock due to Restock and WaterFall, but i assure you, you can make great engines with this technique!)

  Hide contents

 

You can use  fairings to make MANY things! Like a huge TurboJet as an example:

  Hide contents

 

Or a low power and efficient engine:

  Hide contents

 

OR Sea-Dragon worthy engines!

  Hide contents

; )

Basically, you can use fairings to make custom looking engines. Imagine all types of engines! Huge! Weird! HUMONGOUS! Nuclear!

You can even make dual mode engines by adding two diferent engines onto the same Fairing Engine!

Thank you for reading this, i hope you have some ideas for great engines! I wish you all well. Bye!

how do you just stop the fairing construction mid-fairing-build to be able to make things like that? i can never do it. at best i can use a fairing and make it into a 1.5m to 2.5m adapter or similar

 

[OrdinaryKerman]

4 hours ago, Astra Infinitum said:

how do you just stop the fairing construction mid-fairing-build to be able to make things like that? i can never do it. at best i can use a fairing and make it into a 1.5m to 2.5m adapter or similar

 

Alt+LeftClick, iirc

[Second Hand Rocket Science]

yo it'd be nice if all the construction techniques weren't so old the pages don't exist anymore innit

[Linkageless]

Dockable RAPIER with Shielded Docking Port

I found that a Shielded Docking Port can be nicely offset into a RAPIER to provide handy rear docking for small spaceplanes.   It also (as I recall) provides a useful reduction in drag on the RAPIER, leaving the front of your stack clear for an inline intake or whatever else.

When closed, the engine operates as usual.  When open, the docking ring protrudes just a little bit further out of the back, allowing docking as normal.

https://imgur.com/a/3TnmeWN

I always bind an action group to toggle the docking port and disable (not toggle) the engine.   Throttling up the engine while the port is open is a good method for emergency explosive separation!

... don't forget some RCS.  Docking manoeuvres using this without RCS are possible, but inadvisable.

[Rutabaga22]

The 1-5 solar panels in a box perfectly fits the cargo bay of the size 2 lander can!

Gonna use this in my Project of the day series

[Nazalassa]

On 2/20/2022 at 1:44 AM, Mephisto81 said:

Only the engine plate itself produces a small amount of drag.

Offset the fairing so that the engine plate in inside it, I tried it, it works. Completely removes drag.

Now, overheating comes with drag - no drag, no overheat, perfectly safe reentry.