cb8rwh.... I have a kinda wired way of starting a model.. I use nurbs primatives or nurbs curves and shape it a close as I can to the object I want to model

Once I have the shape and proportions, I convert the nurbs into polys. Than its just a matter of tweaking and pulling to start adding the details.... I add detail by switching back and forth between polys and sub-d. Sub-ds are a loy easier to pull than the vertices on a poly=)... Hope that helps

Kurt