Thank you for the welcomes and the suggestions thus far! I will make sure to look up every suggestion.
From other threads asking for mod suggestions I've seen there are about a dozen mods that get mentioned in the utility sector almost always (KAC, KIS, KER for example). I wonder about KIS for example as there is a newly added inventory system, and using engineers to add parts to vehicles post-launch, etc. Another very highly recommended mod is all about that.
I suppose this means I came in at a little bit of an awkward time, just after not one but two content patches!
I surely will after I post 3 more times!