I have over 6 years of experience with editing, texturing, and rendering of all types. Most of the models you see here were modeled in Autodesk Maya.
Box modeling involves starting with nothing more than a simple polygon cube, and ending with a complete, complex poly mesh. Most of the models you see here started out as cubes, and through countless extusions and the careful pushing and pulling of verts, they became the models you see below. They are also all "built to smooth," no help from z-brush here.