Another late update... Ah well lol. This time I have been spending a lot of time learning some of the finer points of rigging. I can't rely on pre-built skeletons forever! Aside from that I have still managed to get some models done for my two projects:

Perhaps black is not the best background... anyways a lot of this was texturing using a combination of textures I took pictures of and the freebies on CG textures. Painted some minor details with my tablet in photoshop as well, but for the most part it was adjusting images to work well the the maps I had laid out.

next up was a dog for my less realistic style game:

This texture is hand painted with the aid of photoshop and my tablet.
Still in progress, as I need to get some information on just what sort of animations this guy will have before I can finish up some edge loops. Might have something to do with why I am learning rigging hah! Next on the list is texturing another house and learning some more about rigging. Maybe I can even get something animated with my very own custom rig soon.