SMD for the win. When I started working I started out designing circuits and a lot was becoming SMT. Tiny 0402 components and several hundred leg QFPs were all around. I used to really like it, although routing by hand was tricky for really dense boards. We had a pick and place machine the size of a house that used to rattle through placing parts on boards like it was possessed. Funny thing to watch when that went wrong, literally thousands of tiny components all stacked up in a big mess in a split second, all destined for the bin once off the feed rolls.
One thing I did note, when designing high freq rf circuits the SMT really helped with the circuit characteristics.
All good fun, now I don't do any of that but still have fond memories. Glad you gave it a go. Slightly different techniques for designing, building and re-working SMT boards but it's all largely the same. I was able to swap out a several hundred pin QFP sometimes just with a basic iron and not even a hot air gun. Super fiddly and have to be careful removing off the board without destroying, but possible all the same!
Glad to hear the Ploy 800 and mods are not dead, would upgrades be compatible with the hawk/atomahawk already fitted?