you're a real gem, april, thanks for taking the time and the consideration. and you're absolutely right. there are two reasons it's like that: 1. i imagined the 'air traffic' would make up for the distance. as in make the ships bigger and bigger as they approach the tower/balcony thingie. 2. i need to tell a story, and whatever model i'll end up doing needs to hold a little orb with a galaxy in it that needs to be visible. so yeah, don't know, i might just add more buildings in between to make the transition or something, although the scene is really messy and the textures are crappy if i bring them in the foreground. might just make the thing smaller. don't know, tomorrow i'm starting on the planet and starscape, so i'll get a better idea of where to put things once that's done as the general background. many thanks again, i look forward to more critique from you :) Mihnea