Ok, here is the latest....the saucer is done for the most part, I have to do the speculars and correct the light map, might wait until i finish the forward area of the ship first. At any rate, you get the idea of where this is going.
As you see, I went with round lifeboats. I sized them to give the ship the proper scale compared to other ships. I can adjust thier size if I have to.
I'm a little happier with the textures now, but I still think they are a bit cartoony. I will probably lighten the dark lines above and below the windows to remove the emphasis on them. At any rate, here's the pic sofar.