Thank you, chiquito!
I was able to get the shape I wanted by "playing" with some of the options. Woohoo! I learned something about modelling.
Now I have another related question.
I thought it would be easier to get the shape I wanted with "half" the object - that way I didn't have to exactly duplicate the pattern/design - and then I could mirror the spline for the other half.
Well - the mirror worked in that I now have 2 identical halves but ... I'm not able to loft the 2 halves. I attached them together but ended up with 2 first vertice - I think that is why the "get shape" is grayed out.
I can't figure out how to completely attach the 2 halves with just one 1st vertex.
I read somewhere about a symetry modifier but I don't think my version of Viz (2005) has it ...
Thanks for any help with this!
Daf