They are pirates but they also have a past background as laboring within the decks and shipyards. They are practically ex-Republican but much has changed since then. I can see Unioners capable of understanding the mechanics of piracy vessels. They have worked for repairing and maybe retrofitting of various types of ships ranging from light ones to transports or even higher. How could we know, which ships were docked at Alster for repair? Background says mostly transports but there is always an opportunity which we are willing to look for. Hessians ain't engineers too. I don't see a reason for Unioners not to have their own gear. They should be much more likely to produce their own stuff than any other group around them in my opinion.
And as Ad said, I don't think Unioners would be reckless not to bring some of the engineer stuff along. You could also refer to the background of Alster Union. It has a decent explanation there with the new background we have added to enhance the re-formation.
About a whole line, I think the same way with Chopper. Otherwise we would need loads of work for every faction. A VHF is being designed atm and thats all for now.
