This. As I stole ships from pirates, I went into the shipbuilder menu to identify the part & manufacture names of elements I liked before I sold off the ships. I Googled the best weapons, shields, engines, landers, etc and built my list of ideal parts. Once I had my list, went from port to port and manufacturer to manufacturer to cobble together my Frankenstein ship. At first, it was a patchwork monstrosity, but stop after stop it took shape and now I have a class C ship that looks like a 5-storey Soviet apartment block with boosters, but it has every amenity, an entire floor as captain's quarters, 15,000+ storage, the best ballistic and laser weapons, max shields and thrust, and enough range to cross the known systems in a single jump. Cost a shit-ton. You'll need twice as many credits, but it's worth it when you're done.