I'd probably make the front shielding similar to the rear - at the moment, it doesn't really have a purpose. I think having bulky, armoured ends, and then the cargo in the middle would actually look quite good, along with making sense - which is always rather important.
Research ship. Check. I'll re-do up the infocard then as the original really doesn't fit this ship at all.
Though I still think there is wisdom in making it a heavy escort with a Salvager type theme in mind rather than the marginally glorious role of being the Zoners "other" cruiser.
Personally I am really loving the revised Zoner ships. Fantastic looking work, Jinx. These really show off what a good modeler can do!
I have one request though, can we get a couple shots of the aft part of the new Whale, I have a bit of trouble seeing/picturing it from the angles you gave here.
a)Revisions - do you intend to change "your" models rather often? I see it as problematic if the model changes style from a different one very often cause it destroys continuity in my eyes. (it's still the same ship in RP you)
Sure imports were replaced with discover models, but why should discovery models without any major issues be replaced rather fast?
b) Fearless is AoM's model which doesn't have any major issues or looks very unfreelancer-ish, neither does it have any bugs by itself. So I don't think it can be replaced without talking to him or some "Igiss override".
Igiss says: Martin, you give them a finger, they bite off your arm.
The Juggernaut looks like a femalized version of the current one, female-torso-like... I like the current design much better. I just saw Freeport 13 the other day and the three biodomes looked amazing, the new one looks too slim.
The new Fearless looks great by the way:)