What's the best way to model complicated pipes? I've been trying to model a realistic rocket engine and if you've never seen a rocket engine before, they have some really complicated plumbing structure. 



I've tried getting some crazy shapes using either the Array or Curve modifier but they don't work that well with complicated curves and always produce some weird results. Is there a better way to make a weirdly bent pipe or wire?
first create a circle of 16 vertices or 32 verts (16 its better for less polycount), then convert it to a curve with Alt+C , then add a bezier curve and set the bevel object to that circle, also if there are too much edge loops reduce the resolution size to 6 or 8, then stretch or shape your curve recording what you want in edit mode.