Been having fun all day....
...exploring the options using SketchUp. The intersect with model command works differently than AutoCad's, but since it works on polygon meshes, it is doing what I need it to do: create complex objects using polygon meshes. Nicely, too. I can paint the whole object with texture, shadow, etc, and do other intersection functions as well. This will keep me busy for sometime.
I wish I could share a graphic, if not a model for example of what I'm doing; but, I've recently lost my ftp site (long story) and some of the stuff I'm doing is not ready for release by my client (another long story).