Thanks! By making the required holes in the underside a little smaller - and requiring only one "leg" instead of two for each landing pad - it resolves the dilemma of making retractible landing gear for the 918 model: you can use the original 4x4 landing feet, but they won't retract fully, or the two rear feet will touch each other, with no left-right space between them, or you will undermine the structural rigidity of the ship. So this started out as a structural solution but became an aesthetic one too when I decided I preferred the look of this ship with the slightly smaller landing feet.
As for the front of the fuselage, that's actually the newer 2x4 printed slope. I had a couple lying around (along with the unprinted 2x4 slopes), and I didn't feel like paying through the nose for the 2x4 printed tile from this set (which was brand new on Bricklink at the time). So I used the 2x4 slope bricks instead, and I ended up preferring the gentler slope of the 4-long slope bricks anyway, as they more nearly match the slope of he windscreen. Also makes the construction of that area a lot simpler, eliminates the visible studs in front of the windscreen, and allowed for a simplification and streamlining of the steering/front-cockpit section too. Here's a pic: