Rounded Hard Surface Topology Question

DrBombs

Hey guys I am modeling Robocop front armor, and since this is a rounded shape with details/holes,  but what happens is, if I make the topology quads too big, I will be left with a lot of pinching once I start adding the small details, and if I do the quads too small I will be left with a lot of dents, how should I approach this?

Here's an image of the base shape that I am going to retopo over it (done in Zbrush):


Thanks in advance!

Eric Chadwick

See 

 How The F*#% Do I Model This? - Reply for help with specific shapes - (Post attempt before asking)

Fabi_G

Hi! I think with this kind of compound shape it might be quicker to construct it from individual, separate elements.
Then you could either merge them together and use the resulting mesh as a shrink-wrap target for a re-topologized mesh or re-mesh the shapes into a single mesh and smooth the result. If this is for real-time rendering, I would add details that don't contribute to silhouette during texturing.