That is a beautifull prop. All that comes to mind for me who can't model a jot is that the vertices are un-welded on that cylinder form... if you are grouped I would try just deleting it and replacing it with polys grouped off the Poser cylinder or some camphered cylinder that does render nicely in Poser. On several occasions I have replaced problem areas of mesh on complex props by replacing them with Poser primitives and then exporting then importing the composite back in to "glue" it together.