When I made my pirate version I got the front end to be rock solid, I could hold the whole ship by the front. Supported the whole structure in kind of an upsidedown L shape, used some tech peices too, all belnded in very nicely. Can't remember all the details but there are a million ways to mod a ship, strengthen it, and get it just how you want. Wish I had pics to show how I did it, but it should be easy to figure out various ways to do whaty you want.