how to adjust parts of an already skinned mesh without destroying the rig?

[kinglaw]

I have a already rigged/skinned model i have to use for a project but I would like to make a few changes to the mesh(like making the arms bigger and give the character a bigger belly).My question is, is it possible to do this without destroying the rig?,or is there a quicker way of removing the skinning then adjust the mesh then bring back the skinnning?

[stephenkmann]

If you are not making any topology changes you could do those changes as blendshapes added into the model.   

 If you need to make topology changes or just dont want to add blendshapes i would duplicate the model .. makes the changes and then copy the weights over from the original rigged mesh.  

 Hth 

-=s