Male sure to make a thread on it in the painting and converting section! ...and don't mind if some of your girlfriend's minis find their way into it, too...
This can also depend on who you're playing against. If you're lucky like me, then your regular opponents won't care whether the models have spears/hand weapons as long as you have chosen what unit has what weapon before the game. To clarify this, at the beginning of game I state if a unit has a weapon different to it's model (e.g. Saurus models with spears have the rules for hand weapons.) I've never had problem with this but it's always best to check that you're opponent is ok with this before you draw up your army list - especially if they're a new opponent*. ^this adds on to my point above. When I model I do it purely for aesthetic value, so how they look and the rules that they have are two separate concepts in my mind. I prefer it this way as it doesn't establish any unnecessary restrictions on your creativity. Following from my last comment: go wild. Model your army how you like it. I have Skinks wielding tridents and a Scar-Vet with a Dark Elf/Darkling Coven lance. As long as they can be clearly defines as discrete units, it's all good. *Be careful when using proxies. Weapons are generally acceptable. Running with that concept can be dangerous though. For example: using a Sunblood model as an Oldblood is fine to me as long as you state that it's an Oldblood at the beginning of the game; using Skink models as Saurus is *very* unlikely to be accepted; using a box as unit of a Saurus Guard is irksome and laughable. Don't even get me started on unpainted models or, even worse, models just splashed with paint so they count in a game. We've had many threads dedicated to this discussion before! ^ this. It's always nice to see people progresses, whilst also providing inspiration and tips for others (intentionally or not)! Plus it's a great way to mark and motivate your own progress.
Oh dude, they should be good. I don't know if I'm any good at painting but, here's a sample of my gf's old dryads she had painted and she's gonna probably do a lot of my army and her new dryad army.
To calling units whatever you want to use vs. whatever the model shows is another good idea! Just starting I had a hard time wrapping my head around that until someone showed me space marines with hello kitty heads LOL. Talking about pure aesthetic value, I think I might take my carnisaur apart a little. I wanted the trogladon head because I thought it looked cooler maybe...I think I'm just gonna do all my models like that, for aesthetic value. As far as taking one type of unit and completely using it as another type is silly, I'd never do that. But I do eventually want to make a better skink priest than what's offered from GW. I hate the cloak figure, it looks so cheap. I want one with a staff with skulls and a dagger! And I will post more pictures! Here's my carnisaur so far!
I made chama skinks from a box of skinks and green stuff. There's some posts of people doing it if you search the forum. Takes a bit more time, but more personal and cheaper. Might not look as good, but that depends on your skillz.