I started the game as a conventional start, 1948, real-world population for that year (so about 3.5 billion). That gave me loads of income. It took me more than thirty years to convert my Conventional Industries to Trans-Newtonian... I'm still not really finished with that task... but the high Pop income allowed me to build and run loads of research facilities, so I'm already up to about 130 labs in 1980.
That puts me at the Internal Confinement Fusion Power level... so yes, I can build some decent components for my ships.
Most of my Navy is modular... Engine sections towing Jump sections towing ASM sections (or Hangar sections) towing PD sections (or Magazine/Fuel sections)... all 5,000-ton modules, linked together five-at-a-time with tractor beams into 25,000-ton "ships".
But lately I've been building more conventional, 40,000-ton ships: Battle-Management Vessels, Jump Tenders, Aircraft Carriers, ASM-armed Battle-Cruisers, etc.