Detail in models - how far to go        Model making is a fantastic hobby which brings a huge amount of pleasure to millions of people and the term 'model making' encompasses countless different activities and every one of these is entirely worthy. For me, the desire to include detail has always been there, and this desire only seems to grow with every passing year (perhaps because each year I am inspired by having seen ever better models?). Some people take this very much further than I do and some less - and this is all fine by me.

 

In my job, there is an increasing need to NOT get caught up in the detail as we chase value for money and the need to deliver more, faster with less - we exist in a 'Good enough' culture. So, detail is not always desirable and beware - chasing it can soak up a lot of valuable time.

 

In my model making though, my quest for detail can run free - it is all about learning to control how I approach different things.

So, here is a German motorcycle combination from WW2.

 

If you look closely, you might notice that I have modified the rider's goggles by drilling and filing them out, before adding transparent lenses, so that you can see the rider's eyes through them.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the passenger is reading a fairly realistic map of northern France - a map drawn by myself, by hand.

 

Shown with a pound coin, you will see that the whole model is only 1:35 scale.

 

I am not a hugely skilled builder of plastic kits by any means, but you get the idea - the desire to add a level of detail which somebody else might not be bothered with.

With Meccano though - bigger is better - Right?       I used to think so but at some stage in my model making history I started to question my whole approach. Under the 'Neil's Meccano Models' tab you will see my big Scammell Explorer and Routemaster bus and these were certainly pivotal models for me. These large models took ages to build, consumed hundreds of parts, were tough to store and tougher still to transport and above all, they didn't work as well as I would have liked because they were so very heavy. Every one of these problems would be resolved if I just made smaller models. The challenge then, created itself - to build smaller models without compromising the level of detail which I wanted - hmmm.

So I had a try - here we have my 1930's Morgan 3-wheeler with interior, suspension, steering, front and rear lights, contoured seats, radiator grille, working motor drive, onboard batteries, engine details, space-frame chassis, twin exhausts etc.

The whole thing would fit in your coat pocket and whilst a larger version might include a little more detail, I was happy that with this little model, I was starting to prove my theory - the model was much, much smaller, it runs beautifully because it is so light, it lives with a second car in a shoe box under my bench, it was quick to build so I did not lose motivation and I can take it to any show with ease -  but yet it has not lost much detail. Furthermore, there are not many parts in this model, so somebody with only a modest collection/limited budget could quite easily replicate it. Do the benefits justify the compromises? Opinions will differ...

Smaller models very rarely win the big prizes      This is most certainly true - a big model has the 'Wow factor' - even if it is not always so well designed and well bolted together as a really nice small model. Also, a bigger model does take more time to build and it is only right that this should be recognised.

 

Whilst I have previously won a few prizes for my models, I am not competitive and certainly don't chase prizes these days - but they are a very good way to gauge people's opinion and I always appreciate competition successes.

 

My impression is that people do like my little models. They do occasionally get copied (which is great) and perhaps people are starting to see where I am going with them. I would love a small model to truly compete on it's merits against a large one and this may happen in time.

Dear Visitor,

 

Thanks for taking a look at my little blog.

 

I started this in 2014 when there was a lot of conversation about blogs and I wondered how hard it could be to knock one up.

 

It was originally intended just to keep pictures in some kind of structure and to stay in touch with a few pals who live around the UK and wider but it has become useful in other ways too. I rotate content from time to time to keep it looking fairly fresh or to make some space (which is limited all the time this is a free website).

 

Apologies for not having a contact page but I did have one previously and could actually not keep up with emails. Because some of these related to car and building safety, I felt I should probably leave these questions to the experts as H&S is not always high enough on my agenda and I didn't want anybody getting hurt trying to copy any of my daft antics.