Hi jerrame,

I had a look and we don't have the scene files if we did I would render out front and side for you The Anime tutorial is based on singe reference modeling though which is more difficult so you'd be better off starting with a different tutorial if you're new to modeling. These ones are cartoon characters as well, but based on image planes, even detailed ones for the head in addition so a lot easier to follow;
Pilot Girl
Red Girl
Santa
These tutorials are similar, and will teach you a fair bit about all different geometry types in Maya.

For beginner character modeling low poly is also a lot easier than high poly, so if you wanted to try that instead of a cartoon character you could follow one of these tutorials instead, they're at the same difficulty level as the other ones;
Low Poly Characters

My favorite beginner modeling tutorial is Chef Ramsay but it doesn't use exact image planes either so it might be a good idea like you were thinking to start with a tutorial that does like one of the above and continue on this one afterwards when you feel more comfortable working off references only. This tutorial has no NURBS to create the initial shapes, but is based on box modeling techniques where you start with a poly cube and get your shape this way.

Other good beginner modeling tutorials that are easy to follow are:
Interior Design
Haunted House
These are clean polygon modeling tutorials where you'll learn to use a lot of different modeling tools in Maya so also a good place to start. The Haunted House was the first thing I ever made in Maya, it's a funny project to follow

Hope that helps give you a better idea of somewhere to start. You can try the Anime Character of course but I think it will be a bit more difficult than the ones I just mentioned.

Nilla