Piece of advice - dump the new ships if you can't make them, because it's the kiss of death to be relying on other peoples free time at the moment. Also, I'm not sure you'd need them storywise (apologies if you do, but I think you need to make sure that you take the approach of writing the storyline and then deciding what mods you really, really need). For example, you can have a decent count of enemies an keep it a realistic rebellion / insurgency if they're using Great War fighters (which you can hopefully presume exist in great numbers from the war and still are hanging around as poorly guarded reserve squadrons or stored in junkyard mothballs). I think if you just tbl edit the likes of the Aeolus, or scavenge some other models from other sources, and focus on the storyline & missions above all else, you'll be more than fine.
Sorry to sound negative, though. It's just that loads of people run into big trouble by relying upon charity which, with the best of will, no-one has the time to give.
Good luck!
