Some very impressive stuff in this thread!  I'm in the same boat as Dann-O. I have Hexagon2, but I don't have a vid card that can handle it yet, so I get by using Wings. I'm attempting to model the "Flying Scotsman" for a little friendly challenge with TheBryster in the Bryce Forum. He is building his version using Bryce. I'll be using a combination of UV texture maps and procedurals, though I'm cheating a little making the "pinstripes" by beveling some edges and assigning them to a different material group.