Yo :smile: Just to post an update on the skin surface and the rest of the major parts. I'll be back this weekend to hopefully end the highpoly work and rush to the paint step.
If you create the basemesh geo in Max, add an editpoly modifier to the stack and use that to 'normalise' the quads - this will save you the step of removing all those superfluous edges.
You can try dithering the alpha test one. It won't be fully the same, but it should be at least a step closer. Yes, 2 overlapping meshes is usually the way.
While your scenes have a nice atmosphere you are not really showing any strong individual assets. The ice shader is a step in the right direction I think.
Thanks everyone for the advice... I really need to step up my game and it seams I need to learn to make good spec maps. This project is to be continued.