NURB's in Maya is probably not the best thing to start with as they can be very temperamental.

Starting with a primitive is certainly one approach.

You could also build a curve network and create a set of surface patches using lofts, and birails and then trim sections from the patches. Use fillets, rounds, and attach and to connect the patches.

That helmet is a very ambitious first NURB's project in maya though my friend. There was a free motor cycle helmet tutorial that I think still exits on "the area" autodesk site that might be a better first project.

https://area.autodesk.com/tutorials?w...ips=108&level=