One thing that bothers me about the Empire

[David]

Why the heck does everything have to be gunmetal gray??



You'd think if they could afford to build a Death Star they could spring for some paint!

[TheDarkling]

Keeps the troops depressed and in line.

Havent you seen the simpsons episode where the school gets uniforms?

[Kuja]

Besides, do you know how much that would cost?!

Booster tried to get the EV painted red for years, and couldn't do it couse he could never afford enough paint.

[Cpt_Frank]

Because the metal they use for their stuff is grey and they don't waste time doing stupid things like laying carpets or painting the walls.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Because they're military officers, not interior designers!

Anyway, some of the captain's/officer's/admiral's quarters might have carpeting, or marble walls, but that's because they're high-ranking officials! I get my own quarter aboard Flatulence, and it doesn't look like the rest of the ship! It has a vibrating bed, but that could just be the bridge backup reactor.

[BenRG]

I briefly toyed with this notion in a fanfiction I was writing. Surely General Antilles would want his flagship (the SSD Lusankya) repainted in NR colours (white with red and yellow go-faster stripes). Then I thought about it. 17 x 6 x 1km hull as well as the superstructure. The mind boggles at how much paint that would need, let alone the amount of time a valuable starship would have to spend in the shipyards.

As for the Empire... Well, it values conformity. By making the ships less individualistic, it reduces the amount of time that crews spend caring for 'their' ship instead of concentrating on their mission. TIE Fighters, especially, were nearly identical because they were identical. Thanks to post-flight reconditioning, every Eyeball you climb into is completely identical to every other one. You might not even fly the same fighter twice in a row for months, if not years! This was all part of Palpetine's insiduous desire to create a mindless 'drone' society where soldiers think as little as a war droid.

That is why I loved the 'flying circus' individual colour schemes used in 'The Krytos Trap'. It was about time that the Rebels showed that they thought differently from the Empire in every way.

[David]

Antilles did paint his SSD with the the Rebel Logos on either side.

[BenRG]

Antilles did paint his SSD with the the Rebel Logos on either side.

In 'Crimson Empire', yeah I saw it. However, as the Lusankya was in a spaceyard for a year or so having its' front put back on, I suspect that they had the time for that much at least.

[LordChaos]

Simplest reason : maintainence.

Take your typical ISD for example. If it's interior was painted with modern paints, you would CONSTANTLY be repainting. Exterior, I don't know, would depend on how well paint stands up to the rigors of space (something I do not know).

[master_yoda]

Why the heck does everything have to be gunmetal gray??



You'd think if they could afford to build a Death Star they could spring for some paint!

Would you prefer the trekkie plastic look?

[Mr Bean]

Could be worse
It could be Purple with Thunderbolts! (Ref-Flash Gorden, sorry the movie was on Sci-Fi while I wrote this)

[David]

Why the heck does everything have to be gunmetal gray??



You'd think if they could afford to build a Death Star they could spring for some paint!

Would you prefer the trekkie plastic look?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[master_yoda]

Why the heck does everything have to be gunmetal gray??



You'd think if they could afford to build a Death Star they could spring for some paint!

Would you prefer the trekkie plastic look?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There you go then.