Material was an Alpha Quadrant Alliance designation for the visual appearance of a spacecraft's outer hull, i.e. a vessel's "skin". (STO - Klingon War mission: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock")
History and specifications
In the early 25th century, any starship class came with a default material applied. This material could be changed by the ship's commanding officer at authorized facilities with shipyards. The default shipyards for the Allied factions were: Earth Spacedock for Federation Starfleet (STO - Klingon War mission: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock"), Praxis Station at Qo'noS for the Klingon Defence Force (STO - Klingon Sector mission: "First City"), the Romulan Flotilla for the Romulan Republic (STO - From the Ashes mission: "Explore the Flotilla", and Deep Space 9 for the Dominion's Vanguard Fleet. (STO - Gamma Quadrant mission: "Storm Clouds Gather")
Materials were usually designated <special> Type <number>. In addition to a ship's default material options, other materials could become available when a commanding officer had access to other, specific ships. For example, the Epoch-class Aeon material became available to the commanding officer of a Wells-class ship if they owned both vessels. (STO - Klingon War mission: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock")
Applying a deflector shield, like a vanity shield, could override the chosen material option, and replace it with its own visuals. (STO - Romulan Mystery mission: "Coliseum")
List of materials by faction
This is a list of materials, sorted by faction, and sorted as seen in the shipyard. Not all materials are available for each ship in a faction.