Reading this eagerly between overtime sessions at my job!! Thank you for your additional work on this, Jeff. I am beginning to look at blender tutorials to prepare .... before now, I have used wings3d for about 98% of my modding. It will take some time to get used to blender, but it looks like it'll be worth it.
Maybe I can modify Blender's controls (especially camera functions) to mimic wings3d - that way, the transition will be easier.