How do you model smooth, contoured surfaces of aircraft without creating any ngons in the process?

[joseph (J)]

It’s not usually modelled- usually, people use NURBS curves for this:

Daily Blender Secrets - Basics of Nurbs modeling

Nurbs aircraft

I’m experimenting with the use of Nurbs in modeling an aircraft. The wings and tail have come along fine, however I am having some difficulty with the body of the plane, mainly with the nose and cockpit. With most planes, the nose is more roundish, while the body has somewhat more of a Isosceles trapezoid shape. The problem lies in joining up the two shapes, which I’m not sure exactly how to do. The first picture shows two intersecting nurbs objects that form the body of the the plane and the co…

Bonus:

NON DESTRUCTIVE hard surface panelling - Blender tutorial