@DunaWolf: it's actually not hard. I might be blowing my cover here, but I just keep using the same blueprints over and over. Once you get a good hull built, it's just a matter of how you cram components in. Each new ship is just the last ship it "upgrades" from. Doing that way ensures about 1/4 of the hull carries over, notably important things like ammo storage, engines, etc. If you have a good armored spot for them, it's good to stick with it. That way, smaller refits are easier ad hoc, instead of pulling your fleet back to a fortress every time.

wow! I really like your style with ships being upgradable. being able to upgrade your small starter-ship to a larger and stronger ship, and that one able to upgrade even stronger, thats pretty neat.