[away3d] 3DS BuildMeshes error

[DON]

I have two 3DS files.  One loads fine.  The other throws an error like
this

+ Build Mesh : Mesh 19
 + Build Mesh : Mesh 20
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null
object reference.
        at away3dlite.loaders::Max3DS/buildMeshes()[/Applications/ColdFusion9/
wwwroot/FB4/Touch3D/src/away3dlite/loaders/Max3DS.as:474]


When Max3ds.as is running
for each (var _meshData:MeshData in meshDataList)
                        {
                                //create Mesh object
                                var mesh:Mesh = new Mesh();
                                mesh.name = _meshData.name;
                                _meshData.material.meshes.push(mesh);
                                _geometryData = _meshData.geometry;



The 3ds that is erroring out is one that uses a solidWorks export to
3ds add-on
http://www.sycode.com/products/3ds_export_sw/



The model does load into Flash if I skip past this error.  When it
does load, it lacks all shading/colors.  It is just white.

My guess is that there is an incompatibility with this 3ds format at
what away3dlite expects??

I can't find anything on the away3d site that tells me there is a
specific version required for max3ds parser to work.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Don