Multi-block structured mesh generation remains one of the most popular meshing techniques because of its superior simulation quality but it is difficult to apply when dealing with complex three dimensional (3D) domains. To this end, a hybrid blocking approach, combining the medial axis based method with level set isosurface is presented and applied to mesh complex 3D external flow domains. Secondly, a hierarchical geometry handling approach is demonstrated which makes use of the lower order modeling, overset meshes and zonal blocking to reduce the meshing and modeling effort. Typical external aerodynamics cases have been showcased to describe how such techniques can be used for efficiently addressing modern industrial meshing challenges.