Modeling a clone tube: Modifier setup

Currently I am in the process of modeling a high-poly sci-fi cloning tube to further advance my modeling skills. Yesterday I started with a simple, blocked-out setup to test the modifier setup. The method to flip an array around an empty looks very promising. You can learn s.th. e.g. in Blenderguru's car rim modeling tutorial: http://www.blenderguru.com/how-to-make-a-car-wheel/

Here's my blocked-out setup with modifier setup. The base tile was created from a circle (here with 8 vertices) from which later on 7 parts were deleted. Array rotation in Z is 45° (360°/8). For better modeling it makes sense to set your outer edge of the tile parallel to the Y or X axis (rotate tube&empty around curser at center)

Another improvement, if your tile is mirrored, would be to add a further mirror modifier around Y or X as the first modifier: