Mr. Nobody, in what kind of bizzaro world would you call those flat looking?! They have incredible depth and details
Edit because I am tired and not thinking straight: Also the old color was way way too saturated.
Dunno, downvote me as much as you (plural form, ie: not just Meso) want but i personally liked it that way, the tan just doesn't have the same feel as the gold and white bright colors of the old II, i know they are WIPs but the color scheme feels monotonous compared to the various shades of gold and white stripes, they also had the effect to highlight the darker parts that much more, i'll refer to the original image in the OP, compare the Barrus Class and the Matriarch to the Caesar, the latter doesn't feel as "rich" color palette wise, not rich as in "wealthy" but more "pleasing to the eye" rich.
Also the Interrex with that subtle blue glow is one sexy beast but that's another matter.
Oh well, it's Dark.Revenant's mod, not mine and my tastes are not the "absolute truth". At most i could try to edit the spritework but i highly doubt i would be able to make it look good in time for the 1.0 release of SS, let alone 0.9b
Short version: Mr. Nobody likes his space ship to be so colorful that they can be detected from the other side of the Persean Sector by the naked eye