Completely agreed. I have never tried Lightwave, however, so maybe my assessment of the situation isn't completely valid.Now, I wouldn't say Maya is any easier then any other 3d program, it's more of just a personal preference.
Now as for the whole disputed amount of experience Metallic has, From what I've gathered he's telling the truth- that he saw maya in september and finally got it in february. Surely you all must know that a 3d application is no small investment. It took me months of reasoning with my parents to let me buy it with my own money that I had been saving- I was still, obviously, interested in 3d before I bought the software to go to these lengths to get the program. SO merely based upon the fact that he joined the forum in september is no valid means of calling him a liar.
And though trust in these communities is important, even if he was lying/exaggerating he wasn't using illegal software or using someone else's work as his own, or any of the other issues that I'm sure most of you have seen on other forums.
This just isn't that important. SO lets get back to the model.
I'm really looking forward to your animation of the bot, metallic. This thing is really looking awesome. Though I must agree that those toes have very strange linkage- though still awesome looking. keep it up, man. I hope you get some time to finish soon.