Oh, yeah doing the body is kinda like that for me. I lathe the arms and legs (just tubes) and attach them to my torso (which is just an extruded tube). You just have to learn how to use 5-point patches and hooks coorectly -- and tweak. I still think the head is different.
Here's a link to a almost-simple characters wireframe I made not too long ago:
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?s=&am...st&p=183860
The body, legs, and arms all started as "tubes" that I tweaked, and added splinesto, to get the finished look.