@gullfo - seconded.
Sketchup is a general purpose drawing platform, it's not meant to be excellent for every niche.
There's nothing wrong with using multiple 3D programs to accomplish specific tasks that they're particularly good at. Many 3D newbies (myself included at one time) fall into the mental trap of thinking "If I only learn THIS software to an expert level, I could have excellent results". But that's not the case.
Sketchup is great for general purpose & collating assets from other programs.
MatrixGold is better for jewelry design.
ZBrush is better for claymation modeling.
Alias and VRED are for automotive design & wind-tunnel modeling.
And so on.
My advice is - if you find yourself stuck, try a different tunnel. Sometimes they lead elsewhere.