What tools you need

First and foremost, you need a good polygon modeller, because that is the way I like to work. Splines and NURBS have their place, but the end result is still usually a bunch of polygons which will need to be tweaked and prodded a fair amount to achieve the desired result. My tool of choice is Newtek Lightwave 3d, currently at version 6.5, but Inspire from the same company will in most cases do the trick. Of course, 3ds Max or just about any decent 3d package will suffice. Some Magazines are even giving away Truespace 3. which will be worth getting hold of if you have nothing else. Although some of the tools I use may be unfamiliar, there should always be some way to achieve the same result in your package.So, even without Lightwave, you may pick up something of use.

A paint application of some sort is a must. Photoshop is the de facto standard, but Paint Shop Pro is readily available as shareware & is often all that is required. Many magazine cover disks feature free copies of paint programs, and anyone who has bought a graphics tablet recently is likely to have a copy of Painter Classic.

A scanner, or access to one is a must if you want to scan in those 3-view drawings. Any old scanner will do, even cheap ones are capable of scanning line drawings perfectly. Obviously, if you intend to do a lot of colour scanning, a slightly more upmarket model is preferable. I use a cheap Agfa SnapScan 1212 which comes with some really easy to use scanning software.

A good kettle or coffee perculator is the last but most vital piece of equipment. 3d can be a lonely job done in the small hours when your family is asleep & all the good TV has finished.