diff --git a/PLAN.md b/PLAN.md
index 01fcc0d..d3a4bd3 100644
--- a/PLAN.md
+++ b/PLAN.md
@@ -501,9 +501,17 @@ user does.** In rough priority:
 ### 5.3 Engine features the editor is blocked on
 
 - **Render-mesh-to-texture** (the obvious one): real thumbnails for models
-  and prefabs. The current render-target API is a per-frame override consumed
-  at end_frame — unusable mid-frame; needs either an immediate mode or a
-  dedicated `renderModelToTexture(model, camera, size)` call.
+  and prefabs. Two editor-side approaches are now DISPROVEN with screenshots
+  (2026-07-17, details in `src/ui/thumbnails.ts`): mid-frame texture mode
+  renders nothing (the override is per-frame), and dedicated whole frames
+  engage the pipeline (GI backend re-selects) but the resulting texture still
+  draws as nothing in the 2D layer — even a bare magenta clear never shows
+  through `drawTexturePro`. The engine work is now precisely scoped: a
+  self-contained `renderModelToTexture(model, camera, size)` pass plus a
+  golden test that round-trips a rendered texture through `drawTexturePro`
+  (which today has never sampled an RT texture successfully). The editor
+  keeps its category-colored cells until then; the dedicated-frame burst
+  scaffolding is in git history, ready to resurrect.
 - **Text-input completeness**: ~~caret movement~~ DONE 2026-07-17 (click
   places the caret, Left/Right/Home/End move it, Delete deletes forward,
   typing inserts at the caret). Still engine-blocked: clipboard paste,
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 575a9c3..36bc095 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ import { drawInspector } from './ui/layouts/inspector';
 import { drawOutliner } from './ui/layouts/outliner';
 import { drawRecentPanel } from './ui/layouts/recent-panel';
 import { drawStatusBar } from './ui/layouts/status-bar';
-import { pumpThumbnails } from './ui/thumbnails';
+import { runThumbnailFrame } from './ui/thumbnails';
 import { runSelfTests } from './tests/self-tests';
 
 // ---- self-tests (headless) ---------------------------------------------------
@@ -151,6 +151,13 @@ let modelsPending = 1;
 // ---- main loop -------------------------------------------------------------
 
 while (!windowShouldClose()) {
+  // Thumbnail render frames are currently a no-op (see ui/thumbnails.ts for
+  // the two dead ends and the engine work they point to); the hook stays so
+  // the burst comes back the day the engine can render a model to a texture.
+  if (modelsPending === 0 && !state.playtesting && runThumbnailFrame(state)) {
+    continue;
+  }
+
   const dt = getDeltaTime();
 
   // Auto-save.
@@ -274,13 +281,6 @@ while (!windowShouldClose()) {
     a: 255,
   });
 
-  // Render missing asset thumbnails, one per frame, once models are in.
-  // Must run inside the frame but before the main 3D pass (it switches the
-  // render target and back).
-  if (modelsPending === 0 && !state.playtesting) {
-    pumpThumbnails(state, 1);
-  }
-
   // ---- 3D viewport ---------------------------------------------------------
 
   const cam3D = buildCamera3D(state.camera);
diff --git a/src/ui/thumbnails.ts b/src/ui/thumbnails.ts
index 0c7f1ae..c7aec0b 100644
--- a/src/ui/thumbnails.ts
+++ b/src/ui/thumbnails.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,30 @@
-// Asset-panel model thumbnails (PLAN §G) — render pass currently DISABLED.
+// Asset-panel model thumbnails (PLAN §G) — render pass DISABLED, twice over.
+// The asset panel draws category-colored cells instead (visible, clickable,
+// labeled); getThumbnail below always returns null and the grid falls back.
 //
-// The first implementation called beginTextureMode/endTextureMode mid-frame,
-// raylib-style. The engine's render targets don't work that way: the override
-// set by begin_texture_mode is consumed at END_FRAME ("the next end_frame will
-// render to this texture view instead of the surface" — renderer/mod.rs), and
-// 2D draws batch for the frame. So the thumbnail textures stayed empty and the
-// grid drew invisible images over dark panel — screenshot-verified 2026-07-16.
+// What was tried, and what each attempt established (2026-07-16/17):
 //
-// Rendering a mesh into a texture on this engine needs either (a) a dedicated
-// whole frame per thumbnail with the world's scene nodes hidden, or (b) a real
-// engine-side render-mesh-to-texture utility. Until one of those exists, the
-// asset panel draws colored placeholder cells (visible, clickable, labeled) —
-// see asset-panel.ts. The API here stays so the grid lights up the day the
-// engine call exists.
-
-import { EditorState } from '../state/editor-state';
+// 1. MID-FRAME beginTextureMode/endTextureMode, raylib-style: the engine's
+//    override is per-frame — begin_texture_mode arms it and only end_frame
+//    consumes it (renderer/mod.rs), so clearing it mid-frame renders nothing.
+//    Result: empty textures, invisible cells (screenshot-verified).
+//
+// 2. DEDICATED FRAMES: hide the world's scene nodes, draw one model, arm the
+//    override, endDrawing → the whole frame renders into the 128px target
+//    with no present. The frame pipeline demonstrably ENGAGES (the GI
+//    backend re-selects during the burst) and the world hide/unhide works —
+//    but the texture still draws as nothing in the 2D layer: even a bare
+//    magenta clearBackground never shows up when the texture is drawn via
+//    drawTexturePro (screenshot-verified). So either the compose pass does
+//    not write the RT the way begin_texture_mode's docs suggest, or 2D
+//    sampling of an RT texture is broken (bind group / alpha).
+//
+// Conclusion: this needs a focused ENGINE session — ideally a purpose-built
+// `renderModelToTexture(model, camera, size)` that runs a self-contained
+// simple pass, plus a golden test that round-trips a rendered texture
+// through drawTexturePro. Editor-side scaffolding (dedicated-frame burst,
+// world hide/unhide, framing camera) lives in git history at commit ab43000^
+// ..HEAD and can be resurrected the day the engine call exists.
 
 export const THUMB_SIZE = 128;
 
@@ -24,14 +34,14 @@ export interface ThumbnailEntry {
   height: number;
 }
 
-// No-op while the render pass is disabled. Returns 0 = "nothing pending" so
-// main.ts never waits on it.
-export function pumpThumbnails(_state: EditorState, _maxPerFrame: number): number {
-  return 0;
+import { EditorState } from '../state/editor-state';
+
+// No-op while the render pass is disabled: nothing pending, ever.
+export function runThumbnailFrame(_state: EditorState): boolean {
+  return false;
 }
 
-// Always null while the render pass is disabled — the asset panel then draws
-// its colored placeholder cell.
+// Always null — the asset panel then draws its colored placeholder cell.
 export function getThumbnail(_relPath: string): ThumbnailEntry | null {
   return null;
 }