Faction-specific ships require a special RP request to be able to fly them, not faction permission.
Anyway, about the ship altering... I personally don't mind, as it's clientside. HUD colour change mods certainly aren't against the rules - as I've sent in many reports read by many admins. They haven't smacked me for the black-hud colour I have.
![[Image: GatewaySig.png]](http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk32/beander2/GatewaySig.png)