LO2: To ensure that the UVs where even when I manipulated the UV I did so with a coloured checkers texture acting as a quid to see if there was any distortions. Having completed one half of the body i proceeded to mirror the UVs and format them.
This is screen trap of both of the model and final UVS. As you can see the head and tail dominate half of the UV tile. While this is not proportionate with the body the head is an area which will have a lot of focus throughout the animation so requires a hight resolution of textures. This also meant that when painting I could convey a high level of detail via paint brush. I am happy with this lay out so will proceed with the next stage of texturing.