Thought I'd see what peoples methods are for this. When adding hard edges to sub-d hard edge models I'll usually do them at the end or I'll do them as I go along. If I do them at the end then I cannot see what my model looks like smoothed as I go along. In theory the best way is to place the hard edges on a editable poly…
i tend to crease stuff while blocking out forms so stuff doesn't collapse into a blob. not perfect since the edges are far too hard, but good enough for the block-in stages.