Some questions on modeling

I had to reformat my pc and lost all my modeling programs. So I read on this forum you can alter some things about the model with notepad/word. What are the limits. Like can i copy arthas's sword to a new unit? Or can I copy it into a seperate text file and save it as a .mdx and import it and attach it to a unit?

I've had a lot of success at mdl editing with notepad. However, there are some major limitations. It's extremely difficult to get a handle on geosets, unless you're doing the most simple of editing. Ditto with any aspect of animating. It is possible to move geosets from one model to another, but it's not at all intuitive, and the learning curve is pretty steep. That being said, I've made some very nice models by using aspects of already exsting models, and heavily altering them.

Also, mdl editing lends itself extremely well to creating special effects, since emitters and ribbons are extremely easy to edit in notepad.