Sorted by using this python script: https://bit.ly/dX4aQV thank you for finding that. it is a nice plugin. been playing with it a bit today and its very useful . fair warning though - it is very sloooooow once your model reaches a lot of faces. wish they would add the option to mayas native extrude (e.g. called "preserve border edge offset"). also after using this plugin don't touch your history - or you will get really funky results ...