I started messing around with the Unity game engine when I was about 13 or 14 (I'm almost 20 now for reference), and shortly after that I started using Blender to model. I think Unity was still in the version 3 era at that point. I've modeled fairly consistently (not a lot, just consistently) since then, and have gotten fairly decent.
![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26821247/Marauder24.png)
(Used SketchUp for this one.)
![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26821247/Chassis2.png)
IMO, you shouldn't let people tell you (or let yourself think that) Blender is too difficult to use. In terms of modeling, it's pretty standard and not that much different than most other programs. Ignore the stuff you don't need, and move on to it when you are comfortable. Once you get started, it's a lot easier to pick up the finer points of the program.