Hmmm...no help on the skin color, but on the heat haze is there a way you can increase the space between the ripples and the size of the ripples themselves? Right now they look "squashed" or compressed downwards. I would increase them in an upwards direction to get more of that "shimmer" effect that I think you were looking for. I wouldn't change the height of the planes, just the height of the haze texture itself. Oh heck, I don't know how to describe it but I think you have an idea of what I'm talking about? Kate