Model newbie - UV mapping?

[shinigami]

My job in the real world is managing artists and what we stress is find a workflow that works for you. If you are happy with the model itself but don't care for the way your program handles UV mapping export the model and try another program, Blender is another free alternative and you can find all kinds of things at sourceforge.

For me, watching an artist skin a model is like watching magic at work. Being able to match up the faces with the model while you're texturing is key. One of my guys will actually paint numbers onto the faces and then apply the skin so that he can see exactly what goes where while another can unfold a model and just know what's what. You just have to learn what works for you.