Oddly enough, I've never found that pause button. I must search harder, I guess!
Holy CRAP is it ever fun to make animated ships. I haven't tried anything TOO wild, yet, but I have some ideas.
Is there any chance this could be taken further, beyond a simple constant rotation? Components that could oscillate (in the manner of pistons) would be a great addition, and I can't help but think that combat-only animations would be a ridiculous amount of fun. Weapons ports opening, wings locking into position (like an X-Wing), delicate sensors retracting for protection, generators spinning up... I can think of so many cool combat based animations that could be done.