well, my own method when I converted a bunch of old wing commander 3 models a few years back involved a hex editor... I came to understand how the layout was made, there was a ship editor made, weird thing about it was that it didn't visibly show u a ship, I at one time was planning on making something a bit better, but then I think wing commander prophecy was released and all was forgotten... What sort of fighter spec are you looking to put together?