Whenever I try to change the appearence of my HEC it says that I need to buy a skin. It says its free but when I try to buy it, it says I already have the item. If anyone knows something about this and can help me, it would be appreciated.

I had the same issue. How I fixed it was that I discharged it and recommissioned a new one. Just remember to get all of your equipment off of it first. I discharged mine with my Advanced Peregrines still in the hangar bay.

Are you sure this would work? I would hate to loose it forever. If someone else could confirm this, I would give it a try.

If its a C-Store ship you can reclaim it if you dismiss it.

Umm, yes. I can confirm that I got a second one to replace it. All you have to do is go back to the Z-store. Find the HEC in the Ships list. It will say "Available". Then you click the claim/buy button and you will get a new one without having to pay for it again. This is true for any ship that you have bought through the Z-store.

It is also how people get certain consoles/equipment for each of their ships. Quad Heavy Cannons from the Sao Paulo and the Wide Angle Quantum Torpedo launcher from the Regent, or the TOS era blue phasers from the TOS Constitution are favorites for this method. Players will claim/dismiss/reclaim/dismiss until they have all of the consoles that they want for their ships.