Questions on high-surface modeling, specifically about different pieces

MonkTiger

hi polycount!
this is a WIP of my "Futuristic Baton."


So in this picture, most of what you see are individual polygons overlapping each other. This is a high-poly version, which I will use to make low poly; now the question is, is it advisable to overlap different polygons? 

As you can see, the pieces are overlapping; I was wondering if this was an ok practice, or if it will become problemetic in the future?
If there's a thread about this, please let me know. 

Thank you!
(P.S. any comment about the design/topology/modeling would be appreciated as well!)

PJPayne

It is very common practice for overlapping objects to be like that as long as they aren't going to deform at all (Like characters do). This saves on polys, makes it easier to unwrap, a variety of things is better than airtight models. As far as problems coming up I don't think it would be an issue at all but I haven't had too much experience baking Normals and such with this method of modeling. 

For crit on the shape and design, could you provide another view (like of the underside/ front?) That would help a ton.