cute little proggy I found specifically targesting the indy developer for modelling solutions. it exports to mdl, 3dstudio and more.
It takes a differant approach of drawing out the shape of your models...played around with it, the learning curve doesnt seem too bad... and 30 dollars is pretty cheap.
also supports normal mapping and more

they aslo mentioned comming out with a keyframe animation system.

http://www.gastineauproductions.com/