I have started to learn Unity3D and have got to a point where I want to try and import my own 3d models for use in Unity. Being a coder I have little experience with 3D modelling and the workflows involved in general but I thought I would give it a shot with a simple project to learn the work involved. The goal is to

1. Create a tank vehicle model in Blender

2. Apply a simple texture to it (a single color texture would work).

3. Apply an armature to it. (Body -> Turret -> barrel)

4. Allow its movement to be controlled using a script. (Move forward, turn left/right)

5. Get the gun barrel in the tank to point at a certain point.

So far I have created the model with 3 objects in blender (body, turret, barrel), applied an armature with 3 bones to move the turret and barrel and attempted to save as FBX and import into Unity. I haven't attempted the coding part yet (getting the barrel to aim, or moving the model).

The first thing I noticed when importing is that the armature for the turret and barrel have rotations applied already. Is this also imported from Blender? Is the best practice to start everything with 0 rotation in Blender?

Also is there any way to modify the asset from within blender, for instance modifying the transform of one of the objects in the asset. I can do this when creating an instance but it seems I can't from the asset panel. Is it generally a good idea to create a parent object for the imported asset in Unity and apply transforms on the instance of the child asset, then saving the parent object as a prefab?

Finally is the way I am creating the 3D Model the best way I can do it for my use case? I am very inexperienced with Blender and was wondering if there are any guides or workflows I should follow when creating stuff in Blender for use in Unity.

I have attached my Blender scene and FBX in a zip, any advice on what I am doing would be greatly appreciated.

It is also available for d/l here: