The progress in two areas related to scattering contrast with angular limitation projection electron lithography (SCALPEL) is reported. First, the simple modifications which have been made to convert a transmission electron microscope into a scientific SCALPEL tool, to be used for making repeated, scaled nanostructures and mesoscopic devices are discussed. Preliminary electron optical calculations for this setup predict resolution of approximately 0.005 mum for a range of demagnifications. Second, a Monte Carlo simulation of the angular distribution of electrons scattered by thin solid films is described. The simulation is intended to help select the optimum materials for use in a scattering mask. It was found that for germanium (atomic number Z=32), available parameterless single-scattering distributions do not adequately describe the experimentally measured distributions. As a result, an experimentally based simulation has been adopted whose single-scattering angular distribution is directly measured. It was found that this small experimental investment significantly improves the simulation’s accuracy.