Inovative uses for other parts

[Sovek]

So, problem solving in the VAB is probably one of the main reasons I play KSP, Missions come second. So far I've found some pretty innovative uses for parts, like say the tail section from B9, ENGINE CLUSTERS, MUWAHAHA

Of course with Ven's Stock revamp (awesome mod, seriously, go check it out) I managed to get 1300 KN of thrust when I needed something more but didnt have the bigger engines. So instead of clustering 4 KW 1.25m engines, I opted for two Skippers clustered on the bottom.

Of course, engine clustering isnt the only thing I've managed to do with parts...

KW Insterstage for example, makes a great payload fairing for when you absolutely want something hidden.

So who else have found clever uses for parts, other than it was intended for?

[Cupcake...]

Gigantor Solar Panels make surprisingly good landing skids.

Cupcake...

[AbacusWizard]

The 1x1 structural panels are pretty reasonable for making orbital disco balls. I bet I could probably use the 2x2's to make a dance floor underneath as well. Are there any mods that add rotating parts so I can get the disco ball to spin independently of the rest of the craft?

[Rabada]

Those KW interstates, (and the KW fairing)also have an extra attachnode that is a perfect place for hiding a probe core to De orbit spent stages I usually out a battlery in there too, and I use the KW radradial SAS for reaction conotrol

[Sovek]

Gigantor Solar Panels make surprisingly good landing skids.

Cupcake...

I must say, thats a pretty awesome video... wow.

[Spheniscine]

I like to stick something under my rovers to lower their center-of-mass. Of course it'd also help if it isn't just dead-weight, so I usually use one of two things: a small RCS tank (with thrusters at the sides of the rover) or a small reaction wheel. The former works best on low-gravity worlds; assign a key to thrust downward, and use it to provide "artifical gravity" and more traction when accelerating, braking, turning, cresting, or when you just need more stability. Both can be used to flip rovers back up if they flip over; the reaction wheel works better in high-gravity worlds.

[Tex]

Well, it may not be innovative, but I occasionally use some of the 1x1 solar panels to make fashionable blue stripes on my spaceplanes.

[SAI Peregrinus]

Are there any mods that add rotating parts so I can get the disco ball to spin independently of the rest of the craft?

Infernal Robotics rotatrons are what you want.

[problemecium]

I use docking ports in place of decouplers a lot when I have a nuclear engine on the payload or in place of the small decoupler since oddly enough the docking port is cheaper.

Oh, and for a while now I've been using the Kerbodyne SRB-KD25k as a structural column rather than an actual booster xD

[Cupcake...]

I must say, thats a pretty awesome video... wow.

You can also use them for ballet.

Cupcake...

[cantab]

Oh, and for a while now I've been using the Kerbodyne SRB-KD25k as a structural column rather than an actual booster xD

Did that on my old space station. It's the longest single part and not prohibitively heavy. Pity attaching stuff to it is weird sometimes.

As for other stuff:

Wings for floats. Like intakes they have relatively low drag so you can get a decent speed on the water.

Firespitter electric propellers for boat propulsion. They don't seem to care whether they're above or below the waterline, and with an NFT/KSPI/similar nuclear reactor you can sail for as long as you like.

[SlabGizor117]

[Wjolcz]

I use my engines flipped upside-down and its CoT to check if the CoM is ok on assymetrical rockets.

[Sovek]

HOW DO YOU DO DAT??!!

I was trying to use the KW interstage to hide the service module on my orbiter, but I had to have an LV-909 under the interstage and I hoped it would slide down around the engine but it wouldn't, but even when I removed all the 1.25m parts inside the interstage it still would stick to my craft! Which node on the interstage did you attach to which node on the craft(There's two bottom nodes and one top node on the interstage)?

lol that didn't work, sorry new to the forum XD

The top of the two bottom nodes, not the top node. Not sure why that node is there anyways. In my Apollo style lander I use an action group to decouple the docking port for MEM (Munar Excursion Module) and either another docking port or decoupler on the bottom of the lander, also triggered by action group.

I'm not at my home computer (which has KS) to show you this though

[GetOutAndPush]

Procedural Fairings fuselage sections can be handy for making large flatbed truck/rover chassis, if you turn the whole assembly on its side and only use a panel or two (you can change the overall count of them to modify how much fuselage you have per panel). It's nice to be able to tweak the length of it.

Speaking of rovers, IR Rotatrons allow you to twist your low center-of-gravity rovers 180 degrees in the middle so they're balanced down the long axis; then you can mount the rover in a fairing pointing upwards, on top of a lander engine with legs. Put a docking port on the back of the rover between the lander and the truck. Attach some RCS on decouplers on the front to tip the rover over once you've landed and rotated it into it's normal form. You can put the whole deal inside a fairing. I landed a 30 ton flatbed crane truck on the Mun like this.

I like placing KAS strut endpoints in the VAB for precision placement on things that I want to dock and strut together later. Makes it easier to strut stations up in space with EVA.

If I need to strut things together before launch and want to unstrut them later - example, struts securing an IR crane arm on a rover cargo, or otherwise making a cargo more rigid - I place the struts on radial decouplers so I can detach them. The radial decouplers tend to be easier to place than the linear ones.

If you *really* want to get aggressive with part count reduction and don't want leftover decoupler bits on your cargo, you can stick something light like a lander can in your cargo bay or inside the fairing. Place your KAS strut endpoints for the cargo before launch. Launch with a dude in the can (or transfer them over), EVA on the pad, and connect the endpoints before launching. You can then remove them later when needed.