Ok, that did the trick. I have attached a quick and dirty render so you can see.
I re-imported the LWO file again, all the parts of the model came in as separate mesh items, I did not convert them to static meshing as I need to UV a couple of parts, like the button on the front panel.
The items that wouldn't be seen I deleted, this left me with about 9 mesh items in Modo. I could have cut and pasted them all into one mesh item but then it became tricky to select the different mesh parts for applying materials. Double clicking a mesh part, like the face plate, for example, wouldn't select the entire mesh as most of the meshes were not continuous. Even after merging vert’s there were still issues, setting the merge range too high would destroy geometry, in some of the finer detailed areas. The statistics tab and filtering polygons by imported material didn't help either as it only listed the material for the entire model. The easiest way around this was to keep the parts on their own item/layer and apply the materials to everything in that layer. To reposition the model in item mode is a problem when the meshes are in separated layers and all the pivots and centers are all over the place, however, if you place the mesh items in a group locator, then select the group locator in item mode, and reposition it, all the mesh items follow with their relative positions preserved and the vert. map info preserved. Place the group locator inside a locator item, that is animated, makes the whole model spin, you’re done. It wasn't necessary to have the meshes in "Static" mode or to delete the vert. map, found under lists/other maps; I did delete the imported UV maps, as they were usable.
This is the first time I have attempted something like of thing. I am a photographer and in the past we would hot glue the object to be animated to a "Lazy Suzanne" (a platform that spins) and take a photograph every 10 degree's. As it's almost impossible to get the product to sit perfectly perpendicular to the axis of rotation there was always a wobble that has to be manually tweaked out in. Now I have a better understanding of the methodology involved here, with the file conversions and all the potential pit falls along the way, this is a much better way to go. The biggest break through was a tip I got from Martin in the forum here regarding making sure the model is the correct scale before exporting the "do not transform in element mode". I will have to go back to the Modo forums and start a thread on this subject because I have never heard it mentioned in any of the training material out there.
Thanks all for your support.
W