I don't like the orange tanks. They're ugly.

[RocketBlam]

There, I said it.

Putting the orange tanks on my rockets, it makes them look like they were assembled from junkyard parts.

Now, I understand that maybe that's what Squad was going for... to make the rockets all look like haphazard machines built from spare parts and junk lying around. I totally appreciate that idea. It's just that the new 23.5 parts don't look like that. They all follow a nice, black and white 60's NASA kind of design, and they definitely don't look like junkyard parts.

They also may be trying to make it look like the external tanks on the space shuttle. Those were all orange because they were basically rusty. NASA painted the external tank for the first shuttle launch but then decided not to paint any of the rest of them because it added too much weight. I think that's actually what Squad was thinking when they designed this. But these tanks are, in my experience, almost never used as simply external tanks, but are always used inline in a booster.

Anyone else feel like this? Most of the large parts (well, they were the largest before 23.5) are kind of plain white, except the orange tank. I'm not a fan of how any of them look, but the orange tank just doesn't look like it belongs anywhere.

Edited April 19, 2014 by RocketBlam

[TimePeriod]

Mods will maybe help you, or use two half tanks. No reason to state the obvious people.

[Guest]

I think the orange tank just has to be incorporated into the design better. Orange tanks are not only found on the shuttle EFT, but other rockets such as Delta IV. It can look good, depending on design. But an alternative texture wouldn't hurt.

[RocketBlam]

No reason to state the obvious people.

Not sure what you mean by this.

[MarvinKitFox]

Two size-16 tanks, put together, will;

1) Look better than one Orange size-32

2) Make for a more stabile structure. No idea why this is, as there is an extra joint. Maybe the better joint size to length ratio?

3) Provide much better cooling for the heavy-duty engine you want to mount on the bottom

The only reason to use the orange IS for the visual effect, it is very easily recognized.

If you don't want that visual, then don't use it, rather use two stacked size-16's

[FenrirWolf]

Huh. I rather like the OJ tank myself. I always feel happy when I've worked my way up in career mode and, after launching one grey tank after another, can finally throw some big ol' orange cylinders into the sky.

[Capt. Hunt]

by the way, the orange isn't rust, that's the foam insulation that they are coated with.

[SpacedCowboy]

I have no problem with the "Jumbo 64's. They are a staple of this game. Maybe eventually, as this game evolves, We'll be able to "Paint them" to what ever color we like! As for now, guess we're just gonna have to deal with it. On second thought, how bout putting some tinted lights on them to suite your tastes?

[Boris_T_Roach]

I actually rather like them, a change from the usual grey colour of the other fuel tanks

And its only the arrival of the SLS tanks that forced them off my first stage launchers... but they make great 2nd stage tanks now

Also you can store a huge amount of fuel at your munar orbiting research station using them, so your munar shuttle can take the crews up and down and refuel in orbit.

And they make great core tanks for the interplanetary drive units I build

Boris

[TerLoki]

Well most of my rockets are Delta/Falcon hybrids anyway, so the orange tank works great for me. I just wish they'd fix that stupid engine heat bug it has.

[TimePeriod]

I like em as it gives me something to target for. Then I can see how close I'm going land when coming in for a docking.

[Karriz]

The orange tank looks like an actual rocket part, I would say that the grey 2m ones are more like junkyard parts, the don't look like anything we have in real life rockets.

[NeoMorph]

The orange tanks are just coated in the same material as the space shuttle main tank. It's a thermal protection system (only the first shuttle launch had the white tank).

So that's what Squad were going for... a tank like the shuttle.

[Uncle Mort]

I prefer the orange tank over the big grey tank. That looks like a boiler salvaged from the Titanic.

[katateochi]

The Kerbal solution; just cover it with moar boosters!

Seriously thou, if you really don't like the colour, get the kerbpaint mod and re-spray it whatever colour you like. I don't mind it particularly but if I'm playing with mods and have KW installed then I tend to reach for the KW equivalent instead as I prefer its look.

[TheExplosionist]

But they're filled with orange Lucozade.

[Sufficient Anonymity]

I've got to say that I've always just used two size 16s rather than a single 32 (though now that we've got the large tanks with integrated engines as part of the ARM update, they're getting used a lot).

[Tommygun]

The orange tanks are the only stock tanks I do like.

Almost all the others look too unreal for the main game.

[SRV Ron]

The KW Rocketry and Novapunch mods have tanks that look like modern rockets. The Stock ones just add to the flavor of using junkyard item that is so Kerbal. (Rocomax fuel cans all look like they were made from riveted 10,000 gal rail tank cars of the 50s.)

[TMS]

Someone on this forum once described the grey tanks as looking like "dustbins stacked on top of each other".

I agree. They look like shyte.

It's a shame there isn't a mod out there that allows you to replace the textures of stock parts, in the same way Texture Replacer allows you to change the skybox, etc.

Or is there...?

[Pecan]

...They all follow a nice, black and white 60's NASA kind of design, and they definitely don't look like junkyard parts... [orange tubes] are always used inline in a booster.

Ironically, there is another thread complaining about one of the scruffy and 'cracked' NASA parts.

Personally, I've never used an orange tube in a launch vehicle at all, only as a refuelling cargo. Perhaps I'm just more fuel-efficient than most (or it could be that I've had zero success at making thrust plates so can't get them to stay together].

[Kerbonautical]

Personally I actually dislike all of the medium size parts aesthetics. I'm sure their design had some influence from reality but they still all look like they belong in an oil refinery or something instead, which is disappointing considering the payload atop it often looks relatively high tech.

[federicoaa]

TPutting the orange tanks on my rockets, it makes them look like they were assembled from junkyard parts.

Well, THEY ARE made with junkyard parts, mostly XD

[Nemecle]

I don't think they should re-texturize the Orange : as some people said, there is white smaller tank to replace : but they should re-texturize those white tanks to avoid to have simple metal-sheet on our rockets

[ArmchairGravy]

I think the grey "oil barrels" are ugly, but I still use the heck out of them.