If you have 3dsmax STICK WITH IT. It is one of the best programs IMO. Best UI of all the professional tools. No hotkeys to memorize. Once you learn the UI the rest is a cakewalk. Ive been using it for 10+ years. Every ship model i built was in max. There are plenty of tutorials on the net. You just need to take the time, and read through them, and do the examples. Modeling is not something you will learn overnight. Like i said ive been modeling for 10 years and i still dont know it all. TBH the best way to learn after you read the tutorials is the "school of hard knocks". Just build a model. Any model, and keep trying different methods until you feel it looks right to you. The tutorials are just a guide as to what "not" to do. With time, and lots of patience you will find your own method that works best for you.

In Max's help files you will find beginner modeling, and texturing tutorials. Thats what i used to learn the program. You search google, or yahoo you will find literally hundreds of pages full of max tutorials.

Some say XSI, or lightwave, or Maya is better. Granted they may be able to do things max cant do, but Max is the most "user friendly" of the bunch. For straight up mesh building, and UV mapping nothing tops it.

zbrush, blender, etc. are very low end. Like i said if you have Max (a very expensive piece of software mind you) USE IT.