Well, now that I have the DVD and the "Art of" books, I have much better ref, but a higher standard to work to. The most challanging thing is to figure out how to cut him apart so he can be molded and cast. I have to figure that out for the armature.
caracal - That's a big list.
As for Lorne, I have never met him, just communicated through email and on the phone once. I was encouraged to contact him by Jarrod Shiftlett, one of the brothers who sculpted all of the characters that were scanned in for AO.