I am a journeyman in SketchUp, i can build things that are recognizable, but what i need to do is smooth a surface so that when i render it it doesnt show up as different triangles shaded, but as a continuous curve

case in point:
I am a Trek fan, so i have designed my own ship, i have built it, now i need to texture it, before i a get there i want to smooth the surface so that i can get something like this
(This is not mine, but comes from BorgMan of SCN - http://www.subspace-comms.net/index.php?topic=2007.25)

instead of this
(this is one of my old ones)

also, any recommendations on how to build the detail objects?