I sent the idea below in to zendesk for X class starships and salvage workshops, so I thought I'd post it here to see what you all think!

X Class starships would come in any of the mechanical ship types, and like X class modules, be anywhere from below C class bonuses to better than S class. They would be driven by a new building in settlements called the salvage workshop, and have a unique appearance but based on the existing parts (more below…)

First, salvage workshops – these would primarily be for creating X class ships. Once built, if the player provides a selection of materials – mainly salvaged ship parts gained from scrapping as a requisite, but possibly topped up with technology parts or other materials, the salvage workshop will create a ship over a timeframe (e.g. 24 hours). The ship will be a random type according to the probability of the system species and economy type (so exotics will always be rarely created, and the species influences the likelihood of the specialist types). The value of the ship will be linked to the value of materials and salvage provided, in a random ratio anywhere between 1:1 and 1:2. As secondary functions, salvage workshops would also have scrap merchants and a starship upgrade/scrapping terminal as found in space stations.

Each X class starship created will have a core cockpit chosen at random from one of the styles available for that type, but then wings, nose, fins, thrusters etc will all be picked from any of the other types' pools. This will create patched together looking ships with odd and unusual combinations, some very nice but others definitely not. Think a flying shuttle brick with 7 fin and asymmetrical explorer wings, or an exotic ball cockpit with large hauler turbo engine wings for example.

This would create a whole lot of new looks for ship hunters, more opportunities for min maxing, a new function for settlements, and a new purpose for all the materials which come from ship scrapping, all without adding too much new design.