Since star made is a sandbox anyways. So wy not just give the ability to build our own shield bubbles.
We allready have the Trigger(Aera)-Block. With this block it's possible to create an invisible wall in any shape and distance to the actual ship. So, with a few alterations it might also work as a nice forcefield/shield Block.
http://i.imgur.com/bjPjpVk.webm
Now for the new values i am thinking of:
1. Weaponfire should just go through the block without touching it, as soon the shields are down.
2. it's no good if the shield holds fire from your own turrets.
(As far as i can tell that's already the case, but i think the rounds don't have to go through the whole ship)
3. Since such shields can also shelter turrets, they need some raised costs for balance.
I personally would prefer more e/sec on shield recharge the more Trigger-Blocks are plaeced. More shield damage by hitting a Trigger-Block might work nicely too.
4. And lastly, it would be nice if hitting a Trigger-Block could be used for logics, just like when someone touches it