I think this model looks more complex than it really is; there's a lot of duplicate pieces on this subject, I'd start by identifying those; the nuts, electrical sockets, etc. That said, it does seem maybe 15% excessive. For reference, my art test with Grinding Gear Games was just the head of a man wearing a kettle hat and…
The fact that they gave you until Jan 12th is pretty nice and relaxed. This prop shouldn't take that long, so it feels like they realized you can't work on it 24/7. 10k tris shouldn't be a worry either; just gotta make things more efficiently. 10k tries for a prop like this isn't super strict. Just gotta figure out what…
my opinion about the art test is that it seems to not respect your time. If they see your portfolio they understand what quality you can hit currently, and if they want to know your typical workflow process they could spend an hour asking you questions about how you would plan to tackle this. But if you will work for X…