this has to be the oddest way of achieving these results i've seen in a long time ... but then again it really is a case of the blind leadning the blind here.
Milkshape 1.6.5 you not longer have to worry about Vertex disappearing when you delete something inscene, one of the best ways to create a model is outline it from the side.
First Make a Box the Size of the Character... cut it up into pieces and name each one like "Template_Front" or something so you know which is for which side. Now in the materials make the nessary materials for the background pics and load them up - then put them on this Cube you just made to proportions perhaps scaling the UVmap so that it has the edges of the person at the edges of the plane they're on, this means even if you're sketchs arn't perfectly aligned it'll take some pressure from that. It also means that you can see what you're doing in Facet Mode as if you goto the Materials, you see the slider just above and to the right of the Texture name and below the main materail properties is the Transparency - this'll allow you to make it see through so you can see the picture no matter what, but also what you'll be working on.
The add the major details from the side, if we were workin on the body it would be the abdomin, the ribcagem, arch of the back where it rounds slightly.
once the major detail is there ... then connect all the faces roughly in an order that makes a little faces as possible.
you now using the Selection->Vertex tool and the Menubar->Vertex->Divide Vertex 'Ctrl-P' ... selecting just 2 Vertex at a time try to make the side look more evenly spaced and grid like
(turning on Facet Shading in the side fews tends to help with this, perhaps even changing the Vertex Colour with Menubar->Preferences)
once this is done, select all of the inside vertex and just pull them out until they're even with the width of the part of the body you're working on.
Now one by one move the vertex for each part so they roughly line up with the part they're suppose to (and you should notice the model taking shape now)
However you'll also notice there are alot of ugly lines where there shouldn't be - don't worry about it, hide you're template pictures (mesh's) and using the Select->Face (w/o-vertex w/-backface) begin to select where you can visible see the wrong lines (again Facet/Flat Shading in 3D Mode will help this ALOT) ... and just use Menubar->Face->Turn Edge 'Ctrl-E' just to make sure they're all shaped better
<-< Note when using the Divide Vertex and Turn Edge tools only to select 2 of either Vertex or Edges at a Time ... and to help oftenly its a good idea to Divide a Vertex and Turn the Edge as you work - this is particularly helpful when creating curved Surfaces
>->
once you're all done, just menubar->edit->duplicate 'ctrl-d' and then menubar->vertex->Mirror 'Left<-->Right'
you should now have a very nice base Mesh ... if you want to see it looking well shaded goto groups select both your main mesh and your duplicate mesh (nameing them whilst you work helps you to find things quicker later), then click 'Regroup' - then click on 'Assign' and on the first number
now in one of the veiws make sure that you've only got this new mesh visible, Select->Vertex (w/o-backface) and then menubar->vertex->weld 'ctrl-w' and change the display mode from Facet to Smooth.
shouldn't be looking too shabby now (^_^)
there are many advantages to haveing a grid like mesh when it comes to UVmapping - because you can lay them out easier ... getting use the to Unweld 'ctrl-shift-w' tool is also recommend just for doing this very thing.
once you have layed out your main skin layout, generally starting with a planar map of the largest surface area and then you pull out the next areas you want to keep in tact, for example the body the largest area is the front/back - so you do a planar map from the from, select one side of the model where the side meets the back and unweld those vertex - then select the back and flip it horizontally then pull it to the side you didn't unweld
i mean some people i know rather than they, they cut up each part of the model and move then manually into position - line up the major Vertex and the snap them together in the UVmapper (which unfortunately Milkshape doesn't have this ability natively) ... but putting them close enough should be enough. if you have to use the Rotation try to get yourself using it from a main vertex which will be connected to the rest.
now all that should be alot better advice on howto model something within Milkshape than almost all of the tutorial on the web can provide - it will also line you up for the use of Splines and Polygon Spline Modelling later in programs like 3D Studio Max and Maya, as they are essential techniques which convert into any given Package
Tsu'va Oni Ni Jyuuko Fiori Sei Tau!
One block follows the suit ... the whole suit of blocks is the path ... what have you found?
