Many thanks Infernal! I appreciate the work you've put into this! Alas, it won't work for my situation - the object I'm working on (see above, especially post 3) is fairly complex (and getting more complex as I continue with it), and so it can't be scaled down for layering. A very interesting technique, tho. Would it be too much trouble for you to post a mini-tut in this or a new thread? (I'm using Bryce 3.3, which often won't accept Bryce 5 materials, and anyway I'm sure that others would be interested in the tchnique!) Cheers, and thanks again, Diolma