I finally figured out what I was doing wrong and why I couldn't create a scene with all my models. Nethertheless I fixed it all and got it all done before everything was due (by just) I decided to go for the whole "black hole" look with my layout as it matched the look of my final render and was fun to do anyway. I had to cheat and use a spiral grid as the background while doing the layup for the final render since I seem to suck at making things look straight. I also used lighting with my final scene to add more depth and a bit of ironey as well (the closer to the center the more light)
I do realise that it looks rather budget but I had loads of trouble with the program crashing among other things so I believe it looks rather awesome for what I had to work with. I'm happy with it all.