I'm ready to take what I've learned in building something extremely simple--my dagger and rapier--and build an articulated soft-surfaced model, specifically a "ragdoll" style teddy bear. Any hints on what I should look out for? I'm using a mesh modeler (anim8or) to do this for two reasons: Can't beat the price. I don't want to deal with nurbs or bubbles or anything that doesn't get me right into the vertices "hands-on" directly while I model. I'll try that out once I get my direct-mesh modeling up to what I consider to be an acceptable level. Step 1 will be, of course, producing a set of classic 2d drafts using pencil, paper, T-square, etc, then making a vector-graphic version of that using a cheap drawing program (can't afford a real CAD just yet). That's how I started with the weapons. After that, then I'll be in new waters.