  We present detailed NLTE spectral synthesis models of the Type II supernova
2005cs, which occurred in M51 and for which the explosion time is well
determined. We show that previous estimates for the reddening were
significantly too high and briefly discuss how this will effect the inferred
progenitor mass. We also show that standard CNO-burning enhanced abundances
require far too large an oxygen depletion, although there is evidence for a
single optical N II line and the sodium abundance shows clear evidence for
enhancement over solar both as expected from CNO processing. Finally we
calculate a distance using the SEAM method. Given the broad range of distances
to M51 in the literature, the determination of a distance using Cepheid
variables would be quite valuable.
