Usually you get either an AutoCad sketch from an architect whenever you make an impression for a House or any other building, A difference process is done by an animal,bug,car,boat or any other object. Usually you get sketches atleast buit for the boat I didn't get anything at all.
So I start (almost always) out with a box and make all the base lines, while doing that I keep on the "Mirror" modifier on so it copies all the adjustments I make to the other side so I don't have to do both sides.
After the base mesh which is the base form of the boat/ship you add the big parts they're mostly splines which can be extruded, kinda like the Pen tool in photoshop so you can make easy curves around the ship or make ropes quite easy.
Whenever you're modeling something you have to watch out howmuch Polygons and vertexes you use though otherwise the rendering will take a lot of time in the end. after the first details you add you have to work into wire-ing mode mostly to place things in the right place and this is basicly one
of the hardest parts of 3D cause it can be very chaotic.
Link as example.
After a process of a week or longer if it's bigger (or smaller then less) depending on the detail you gotta use materials on them which is much harder to explain the modeling but the basic things are Diffuse (color) Reflection, Refraction,discplacement,Bump and glossiness.
Also UVW-Unwrapping is very hard to understand too but gives the best effect which I did to my latest 3D Impression with the dragonfly. It basicly is making a texture and you render the 3D model as a template and put all the puzzle pieces as a bitmap on the model and that's basicly the process
exluding the Lightning and rendering which is one of the longest parts of 3D.
Boat was a test project took me 2 weeks, Dragonfly 1 day, UDK game with a collegue about 4 months (basicly got half a city in there).
Basicly some 3D and what random text.
