How can I attach more ion thrusters?

[Streetwind]

This is actually an issue I have experienced a lot lately, now that I finished the techtree and unlocked all the "freeform" building tools near or at the very end of it. Expect, I find that every single time I have an idea that I want to build, I cannot build it because one or more parts simply don't attach that way, despite every other part coming before it doing so.

As an example, ion thrusters and inline xenon tanks. I have spent the entire game attaching inline tanks to the sides of one another - surrounding a center one by multiple outer ones, for example. But now the game hands me the xenon tank, and it attaches in exactly one way only: at the top or bottom of a prescribed attachment point, green sphere to green sphere. You cannot stick the xenon tank to anything that is not a green sphere and strap it down with struts. It's not an issue with stability - no, the part remains transparent. It simply refuses to exist unless attached to a green sphere. The ion thruster is the same.

Except, well, an ion thruster by itself is fairly pointless. I made a really lightweight probe, just 0.6 tons, and one ion thruster is still excruciatingly weak. I want to attach more ion thrusters. I want to attach five. How can I attach five? I only have one green sphere. I cannot sidestrap xenon tanks to make more attachment points. I'm honestly at a loss. Do you guys know any solution?

Edited January 11, 2014 by Streetwind

[relin]

Octagonal brace in the middle, allowing me to branch out from there. This one has four PB-Ions, a single big tank in the middle (attached to the octo), and four of the smaller tanks. I could easily add a fifth drive on top of the inline tank if needed, and with some more supports, you could add pretty much as many as you want.

[Streetwind]

Okay - mind blown. The small girders (octaconal and cubic) were another thing that never really attached the way I wanted them to do, but here they are, doing exactly the thing I need. Guess I still have a long, long way to go in trying to figure out which is the right tool for what situation.

Many thanks!

[relin]

No problem! Use the tiny cube support and turn on symmetry. That will give you two, four, or eight mounts that you can build from. From there, use a second cube support, line it up with the end of those first supports, and rotate them up using 'w'. And voila! You have multiple green attachment points facing upward.

The image I showed was a preliminary engine mount I added to a station, but I have an even larger mount with nine PB-Ions (two rings of four and one in the middle). I bet you could make a 13-engine mount with a ring of four, a ring of eight outside it, and one in the middle. The possibilities are limited only by available electricity