Seth the Blitzspear - underside

Looking at one of the rare shots of the underneath of the Blitzspear, it seems the rear section has a bunch of recessed panels. That was easy to do - just stick on a bunch of Plasticard panels with slots cut into them.
With that done though, i've got to address that knife thing at the front.
Two questions: 1) What do i make it out of? 2) Do i actually bother making one? In some shots its not there at all and i'm thinking, as in all shots of it landed, its just sat there with no sign of landing gear, that it actually folds up into the "beak" area when not in use.
Hmmm...