HCl is working on a hi-res patch for WC1/WC2, but it would still be sprite based and the sprites themselves would not be of higher resolution. There would be two benefits of his patch as far as I understand HCl's work (and after I tried a beta version).
1) The scaling of the sprite would be less ugly. As a ship gets far of the player's view, the sprite is scaled down to make it appear farther. Doubling the resolution would make the tiny scaled sprites more detailed when far away.
2) HCl is working on adding anti-aliasing to the sprites. This would reduce the "stairs effect" of the sprites, but it's not easy considering how huge the pixels that makes a 320x200 image are.
Of course, this is only my understanding of what he's working on. With a little luck, he'll read this thread and explain it himself
.
As for the images you've seen on the CIC, I don't know. They are probably
a) Screenshots from the new Standoff project models
b) Screenshots from Unknown Enemy models
c) Screenshots LOAF's true original models that were later "sprited"
d) Images of any other fan who makes his own model of old WC ship.