Vertexing hands?

[SuperBarrio]

I've been vertexing Squirtle, and found that exporting the hands resulted in them becoming quite mangled.

Now, I know arms and legs can become a bit distorted, and the solution is to simply double patch them (or more)

However, this seemed to only make it worse.

So I ask you guys – Are the verts following the shape of the bones – and therefore probably can not be reshaped into something more singular, or is it a case of getting worse before it gets better?

If it helps – I am turning the middle finger and outside finger into a paw shape, so the hand resembles a sort of mitten.

Thanks in advanced.


Edit: I am facing similiar problems with the feet . Anyone want to volenteer to just take the 3DSMax scene and just patch the MDL0 for me? :P