MSTG007, Jonesy's female. Anyway, it can be complicated to say exactly what to do. I had a friend back in school that showed me a neat little trick to understanding the intersect command. Draw your initials, set them in a cube, extrude them and use intersect to get different effects. That was a good exercise. I did a little mechanical stuff in school, but only architecture since. Now, if you really want to get 3d going, get a program specific to the field. ADT, LDD, MAP. MDT, Inventor. If you want to really get into 3d presentation VIZ is good for many applications. MAX, Maya, Form-Z would be your top dog's. If you want a free one, POVRAY. That last one can be very complicated depending on the release. My windows version, you have to know how to program in c and my Linux one is a graphics piece of cake. Still, in any case, when it comes to 3D presentation software, the time it takes to learn it can be daunting as well as a turn off by many companies. Look into the GIMP for free graphics software. It's a wonderful program.
MSTG, as far as your other thread goes, I once did the things you ask. All the things I listed, I had to use for that exact same purpose. I wasn't trying to be vague or rude, but there is so much you can do and so many ways to tackle it.
Tracey, I'm also not trying to be vague here, but I'm sure you realize it isn't cut-n-dry here. 3D never is and the multitude of software just makes it a more daunting task. I'd say you're on the right track towards getting your foot in the door though.