Skins modify the appearance of a ship. They come in the form of instant credits and are applied by "equipping" the skin into the corresponding slot. Players can preview available skins for the ship by clicking on the magnifying glass next to the ship name in the refit screen.
Unlike themed hulls (i.e. prefixed hulls such as the Oni Bastion Cruiser), which are actual hull instances, players can switch between skins for the same ship or even revert to the default skin (by leaving the skin slot blank), though the instant credit for the previous skin would be lost in both cases.