George - You're totally right. It's really only in the early stages, when animating I tend to do what I like to call "broad brush strokes" - then when I've lived with it a while I start to refine it. You references sound interesting, although I'd have to admit I will need to google them in order to find out what they are
A physical model is something I'd very much like to investigate when I have it at a stage where I'm happy with the model.
Thanks for you critique.