I think he´s referring to this: http://www.sketchdata.com/flash/main5_v7.swf?button=0

Wood Workshop? http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/ww_overview.htm

G.R.E.A.T

Do you really need someone to model a box for you

@vorgra said:

Also are there any plugins I should look into getting?

Fredo´s Curviloft, TIG´s Extrude Tools and Artisan.

Also, there are hullform modeling programs like DELFTShip: http://www.delftship.net/delftship/

And keep us posted

A hose or a texture?
You can find a nice braided metal texture here: http://forums.luxology.com/discussion/topic.aspx?id=47527

Great stuff, michalis, thanks for sharing! Looks excellent

Welcome abroad
You can change it via 'Window > Styles > In Model
As for that intersection issue...some model might indeed require you to take a nap before the operation ends.

...not far from where I live

Sorry, it´s not in English: http://www.index.hr/xmag/clanak/arheoloski-nalaz-iz-vinkovaca-mogao-bi-biti-vrijedniji-od-seusovog-blaga/606764.aspx

No hassle

You should find it in the context menu, not in the plugins folder.

@unknownuser said:

Do the plugins appear in the plugins menu as UV tools ???

It will create a context menu called 'UVTools'

A quick tryout using Whaat´s UVTools 0.1 ("Cylindrical Map" option from the context menu)jar2UV.skp

As for drawing curves, take a look at: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=13563

Marian has some excellent examples here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=335&t=37611&hilit=car+tutorial+modeling

And his fellow countryman here: http://ely862me.webs.com/tutorials.htm

Nomeradona´s approach doesn´t apply only to wall texturing. Here´s another example: http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/texture-workflow-with-sketchup-photoshop-and-podium

@paolo said:

is it same as the nomeradona´s tecnique?

I think so.

@paolo said:

About UV mapping software, would you recommend any in particular easy to use and not too expensive?

I´d recommend you try headus UVLayout: http://www.uvlayout.com/ "The Demo version is free, but has a limited duration license. You will need to come back here every couple of months to download a new installer if you want to keep on using UVLayout."

Yes, unfortunately, the projection method will stretch and distort the texture, depending on how much it goes around the sides.
Alternatively, you could try to wrap it around, although even that won´t work every time: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=281409#p281409
Make sure that a face onto which a texture is imported is perpendicular to the direction you´re projecting it.
As for customizing textures in PS, apart from using external UV mapping software, the only thing I can think of right now is that nomeradona´s tutorial.
Some more solutions to mapping issues: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=43970&p=393623&hilit=+projection#p393623

And what kind of texture are you trying to apply? Couldn´t you just project your texture onto that surface?

True "colorful poems", thanks for posting.

So Roger´s advice didn´t help much?

Maybe you could get away with just textures, but since you actually want to model every single feather, see how this hummingbird was made: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=11610&p=82029&hilit=hummer#p82029

Hi, Deric and welcome

@dbales said:

What are some good resources to get better at modeling in SU?

Sketchucation Community Forums

Now, SU lacks a (good) native rendering tool, so when you require a little more professionalism, you´ll have to use a rendering program. Sketchup basic output is quite "sketchy", not so "realistic", so it´s not that hard to tell rendering from native SU
Take a look here for some more info: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=37621&p=332088&hilit=render+list#p332088
Kerkythea is free and very capable rendering app, and it may be a good start. But it all deppends on what you really want to achieve.

And we have a woodworking user group here also

I´ll be keeping an eye on this one for sure. Great job, Fredo!