I once read an article about how to approach modeling complex items. The author basically broke it down into three steps. The first step is to create the largest most important forms. Don't worry about details at this point; just get the relative shapes in place. Next, look for secondary forms on the object and model those. Then third, look for all the tiny details and do those last.

It's real easy to get overwhelmed by modeling all the little stuff. That three step approach has helped me work through some blocks.

FWIW- I've been working on modeling off and on since Ray Dream v3. Only recently have I had the guts and patience to use the vertex modeler!