The first thing that comes to mind is that maybe your models are not lined up with the transforms the way you think they are. Check them for their local orientation and see if it matches what Playmaker expects. Unity is a "left hand forward" orientation, meaning that if you hold your left hand up in front of you and point your index finger out towards your front, your second finger 90 degrees to the right, and your thumb straight up in the air, you have the X,Y,Z of Unity space. Z is "forward", X is right, Y is up.
This all means if you tell an object to move "forward", it's going to travel along the Z axis in a positive direction. It will not move according to the way it "looks" like it should travel! If you have a character that was saved in a 3D program with the positive Z axis facing out it's back, then unity will turn that character around to move it "forward", even though the model is facing backwards. Likewise, if you have a model where the Y axis is up, upon using it in Unity it could flip onto it's back or side.
The solution to this is simple... in your 3D program, align everything to match the Unity coordinate system. Rotate your models so they face forward down the Z axis, and make sure that Y is up in your programs settings. When the model is placed appropriately, simply save it and re-import into Unity.
It's also best to place your models at the world center (0, 0, 0) and then freeze transformations on them. Unity will use that 0,0,0 point of the model to determine where is is in the scene and move it from there. Your model will rotate and transform around that point, not it's visual center. You can use this to your advantage, like raising the character up so the 0,0,0 point sits between it's feet, or otherwise offsetting complimentary models so they snap perfectly together when they are both placed at the same numerical location (like a treasure chest and it's lid, or a building foundation with four various house tops)
Hopefully that gets some of your problems sorted out. If not, maybe share more specifics?