I haven't fully explored applying materials and textures yet, but I've been creating simple figures suitable for 3D printing for over a year now.
I was surprised by the reaction – "you can't make a model in 3 or 6 hours." How is that possible? Literally, I sculpt a figure using Z-spheres, smooth it out, apply a mask where the clothing is, add a T-shirt and shorts, or whatever it should be, then draw the facial features (this takes a while, but no more than 20-30 minutes for the slowest ones), and add small details. If you already know where all the tools are, you won't spend 10-20 minutes looking for them, and you'll do everything quickly.
Added 3 minutes later
Specifically?)) what kind of things are you talking about?