i haven't found out what the problem with rendering is. actually, when modeling the new torso, i continuously rebuilt the surfaces during modeling, which i think helped, since upon trying to attach a sample arm to it, the seams weren't visible in the window. BUT, they show up during in the final render, even after global stitching, which is a huge problem for me, since i can model the separate parts successfully, but can't seem to combine them.

also, a modeling question for everbody: when modeling a torso, do you model the shoulders as well, or model that with the arm and keep the torso shoulderless for later attachment?

a mistake i made initially was to model half the shoulder on the torso and half the shoulder on the arm (see first pic in this thread), which made it REALLY hard to smooth out the CVs to create a smooth shoulder later on when i attached the arm and torso.

ugh i need help with this patch modeling thing (first time attempting patch modelling ).

thanks everybody!