DrPR wrote:
Bill,
You mentioned that there are a lot more details to model at very large scales. As your photos show, even ordinary wiring is large enough at 1:24 to include in the model. Bolts, nuts, washers and even small screw heads would be visible (a 1/4 inch screw head is 0.010" at 1:24). If you were totally obsessed with detail you could even model the wooden plugs in the deck boards.
Where do you draw the line? How do you decide which small details to include, and what is just too small or insignificant to model?
This is not an idle question. I am considering a 1:24 model (maybe 1:48) of a 112 ft minesweeper after I finish my current project. I have the original blueprints for the entire ship, so I can literally count the bolts!
I guess you "draw the line" where you want to. In this cutter build, I have added as much detail as the drawings permit. Those along with photos of the boat. Even with that info, there probably is alot more I could do, I just can't see it, well enough to duplicate it that is. Getting down to screw heads is a bit much, imho. If you have the research materials at hand that show lots of things, then use them. It all boils down to ones own ability, and how far one wants to go with any givin subject. I try to do the best I can with what I got. Think of it as if you are looking at the subject from some distance, rather than right on top of it. It is not always all the parts individually, rather the sum of those parts to create the whole picture.