Well, I don't claim to be an expert at blender so I could be a bit off when I say this, but from what I've found there are two main points to attaching armature to models in Blender: Before making an armature to attach I'd suggest creating and naming the vertex groups, dependent on what bones you plan to have where. For example, in the blend files I put together, I'd select every vertex that makes up the upper arm, name it "U L Arm" for "upper left arm" or something, another I'd call "L L Arm" for "lower left arm" and so on.
Once these groups were created, then I'd make the armature inside the model, the key is to name each of the bones with the exact same name as the vertex groups after making all the parts of the armature.
Then, once the groups are done and the armature is done, the next step is very easy: Just use the "make parent" with the two objects - the armature/bones and the actual model, so that when the bones are moved the model goes with it. (Select both the model and the armature objects, so that they both end up selected at the same time, then use the "make parent.") Don't use the automatic group-naming/creating options, just attach the armature. Those automatic options mean the computer tries to guess which bones attach to which nearest vertex, which often results in mistakes and therefore mucked up animations.
If all the bones and vertex groups were done right, it is then very easy to go into the "pose" mode which will appear and then simply rotate the bones to animate the model very quickly. The hard part is getting the groups and armature right, which is where I messed up a little. Once all that work is done the actual animations are very easy.
If the animations don't work right, you don't have to start all over, you can always remove a vertex from a group and put it into another so it follows a different bone.
I apologize if you already knew some of this, I didn't know which parts you do and don't know.
