Hi,
I'm working with Sculptris for two days now and I'm totally excited about this modeler. If you haven't tried it yet, you definetly should. It's for free!
Here are a few pictures of my first try. I'm not sure whicht material I'll use to print it, guess stainless steel. I made the legs thicker as natural, so it should work.
The scarab from Elytra looks pretty awesome in stainless steel.
Ahh. I've been thinking of finding a tablet, but I haven't yet bit the bullet. The one you mention isn't quite as cheap as I'd like. (http://www.wacom.com/en/Products/Intuos/Small.aspx) I really would need to try it out before committing to a purchase. I have to imagine that some things, like texturing or sculpting, would be much easier with a tablet.