Hi Michael,

> So, the "correct" (if there is any) way would have been to
> first start with a basic shape and then "chisel" away and
> add material.

Yeah, but that method of "build a larger basic shape then cut it" is particularly what you want when your surfaces have a more irregular boundary, like if some pieces are shaped pretty differently than others, or there are things like notches or holes cut out.

But if your model does decompose well into strips, then building it strip by strip is fine.

With NURBS you just don't want to try and build surfaces around what looks like a hole - instead you build a full sheet pretending that the hole isn't there, and then cut out the hole with a trim or boolean operation. That's one of the major differences with NURBS modeling versus polygon modeling since in polygon modeling you usually try to avoid booleans, while in NURBS modeling they are usually more of a primary strategy.

It look like you were making some good progress on your model!

- Michael