I like to edge-extrude polys over the hi to get the basic geom, then I go over that to improve any edge flow that needs tweaking. Looks great man! nice and chunky
that toolbox thing is much faster. lacks some of the functionality in mj that i use a lot though, like selecting four sides of a poly and creating a diamond of edges within it, and splitting an individual edge.
Hard edges have to be seams, but seams don't have to be hard edges. That's a statement that seems contradictory, but its not. :) That seam should definitely be soft. Its not the best place for a seam however, so it might be visible regardless.
I think the problem is in the topology and your normals/edges, not in the UV's. Try unlocking the normals, hardening the edges, and then see how it looks. Also rework the topology so that you don't have long stretches (on the border.)
Neat! For the tree branch textures, I'd fill the area around them with green instead of white so when you see the mipped edges of the texture, it isn't white at the edges (unless you want that effect!).
You can also select an edge in your edit Poly, to have the Symmetry Gizmo exactly at that edge's position (not really in your case ;) , but in general this is really usefull if you want to be exact and your pivot isn't...)
Thanks for that link, i use the first image to model from, i will bevel the edges on the frame but i think it looks like on some images that ist like a square one with rounded edges, this is one of the refrences.
KartoonHead hit the nail on the head. Reduce your geometry first. Then add some edges around the cracks (not all, just some large ones) and push/pull the edge so that the model and textures read better.
First Marco, nice replication of the Gun! But in my opinion are some edges a tiny bit too round and smooth, i am no expert in Hard surface modelling but some parts should have harder edges.
great diffuse, nice sense of surface details. the only thing u might wanna add is a tiny bit of edging detail. or just reuse or cavity map and pop the edge details. other then that great job !