[Hornet]

I need to make a number of these for a game I'm involved in making, and all the ones I've made so far just don't look right. They either look plastic, the joins look strange, or there's just something not-quite-right about 'em. I think it's because I'm making them a peice at a time using unrelated techniques and then sticking it all together afterwards, if you know what I mean, and so it looks unnatural.

So, does anyone know of any tutorials that deal with these sorts of things as a whole? I'm not trying to make 3d models, just coats of arms and the like. And anyone who links to that lightsabre tutorial will die a slow and painful death.