"your description of focusing on extracting curves and using the Network command that possibly your actual models are not as NURBS-friendly as you might think...." "curves that are warping around in 3D space rather than primarily 2D curves"

You are right Michael. Seeing what is done with Rhino -and so Moi - like http://gallery.mcneel.com/fullsize/46535.jpg
I did not consider models like this helmet as "organic". So in your defintion and philosophy you would recommend to model sth like the helmet with polys ?

What about jewelry, vehicles or furniture where curves warping around in 3D space are unavoidabl ?. Of course it is possible to model any object with polys, but when it comes to manufacturing Nurbs should be the way to go.

A problem I see is to achieve smooth continuity when joining curved surfaces ...