Need help attaching something radially

[kbmodigity]

I am trying to make a mun lander that has 2, what i call hoppers, on it. Hoppers are tiny vessels that can do , well, short hops in a local area to do some of the contracts that require this. Here are some screen shots of what im talking about.

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/518259462780483242/BFEE9ECA0444F3CF48F93513BB943571BFE19BF2/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/518259462780483435/BE069676F1CC5D50F5307AA21B8554A19003B762/

As you can see it has a radial decoupler which would drop it from whatever vessel it is attached to. It then has another decoupler to detach the other decoupler from the main ship. I have saved this design as both a subassembly and as a ship.

The problem I am having is that when I try to attach this to a ship I have built it wont let me. It basically sinks the whole design to the center of the part im trying to attach it to. Not sure if that last sentence made sense but the best way I can describe it. I have tried radial attachment points, all the structural parts possible and yet it wont let me attach it.

The only way I have found that is a possibility is to use one decoupler and turn it around. This though would leave the decoupler attached to my tiny little vessel and would move the center of mass off to that side which i dont want and would add mass thus lowering its D/V as well.

I hope this makes sense as it was hard for me to describe. Either way if it does any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Quivico]

I'm pretty sure those decoupler are placed the wrong way and should go on the ship itself.

[kbmodigity]

Originally posted by Quivico:

I'm pretty sure those decoupler are placed the wrong way and should go on the ship itself.

Yes but if they go that way then they will be stuck to the small craft that i am trying to drop. Like i said, then the center of mass will be off thus making flying harder and will lower my D/V.

I purposley want them to go the wrong way but cant get them to.

[Quivico]

If the imaged ship is the one that drops off, both the decoupler and the hardpoint will continue to be attached and mess up your craft.

[kbmodigity]

Originally posted by Quivico:

If the imaged ship is the one that drops off, both the decoupler and the hardpoint will continue to be attached and mess up your craft.

Your right. But then how do I attach them? If I put the decouplers on the main ship I cant add the secondary ships to the decouplers no matter how hard i try. Also, no matter what i try i cant get the decouplers to reverse like i want.

[Woody]

Originally posted by kbmodigity:

Originally posted by Quivico:

I'm pretty sure those decoupler are placed the wrong way and should go on the ship itself.

Yes but if they go that way then they will be stuck to the small craft that i am trying to drop. Like i said, then the center of mass will be off thus making flying harder and will lower my D/V.

I purposley want them to go the wrong way but cant get them to.

The pics you have show the decouplers will remain on the hopper.

[kbmodigity]

Originally posted by Woody:

Originally posted by kbmodigity:

Yes but if they go that way then they will be stuck to the small craft that i am trying to drop. Like i said, then the center of mass will be off thus making flying harder and will lower my D/V.

I purposley want them to go the wrong way but cant get them to.

The pics you have show the decouplers will remain on the hopper.

Yes but i can remove them if needed if there is a solution.

[Woody]

When I do stuff like this I start with the decouplers attached to the main craft then add the probes or whatever I want.

[kbmodigity]

Originally posted by Woody:

When I do stuff like this I start with the decouplers attached to the main craft then add the probes or whatever I want.

Yeah, but the problem is that if i leave the decouplers in the normal orientation they will be stuck to my smaller craft. If i try to reverse them they dont attach at all.

I am willing to remake my smaller craft on the sides since there not many parts but no matter what i try i cant.

[kbmodigity]

Only thing i can think is to maybe have them stick out horizontally. But in that case I am afraid they will rip off during launch, and worse, they will be pointed in the wrong direction and end up on thier side after i decouple them.

[kbmodigity]

Got the answer off the main kerbal forums, posting the answer here incase anyone else runs into the same problem.

I often do the following:
Decoupler -> girder -> girder rotated 90 degrees so the free node points down -> stack separator -> whatever.