I don’t know about other scales, but my stuff is in HO, and it’s just big enough that details can make a huge visual difference.
I subscribe to the philosophy of getting enough details to make something look “right” when it runs. That’s why my diesel fleet all sport Cannon thinwall cabs with that nice flush-mounted window glass look, Smokey Valley stanchions and hand-bent .015" handrails, grab irons, etc. Basically the highly-visible stuff.
Definitely looks much nicer than a plain-jane unit.
It all started for me when Proto’s came out. Placing a Proto engine next to a BB engine got me to detailing. Detailing just adds more to your piece. Kevin
Life is way too short to duplicate all the detail down to the last speck of dust and coffee stain; however, a lot of “family resemblance” can be achieved with a few consistent details on locos, rolling stock, track work, and structures. There was a comment on one of the forums about a judge down grading a structure for lack of “nail hole” detail despite the lack of that detail in the prototype structure, only because it is now “fashionable” due to the efforts of one of the kit builder’s.
I think that the level of detail should be consistent within the “fleet” of loco’s and rolling stock, and an appropriate level of clutter trackside and within scenes without going over the edge to too much detail to allow the item to be used in operations or being over cluttered. The arrival of new product with a higher level of detail should be a catalyst to up grade some of our other items toward that higher level.
[2c]
Will
I add detail 1: to make it look better and 2: just for fun.[:D]
I pay close attention to detail when it comes to trackwork, engines, and rolling stock.
Time and what I feel like doing drives me. When I was working for a living and came home for lunch, I’d go down to the basement and “do something small” till I heard the call for lunch. Late at night when I had more time, I worked on the bigger things. Now that I’m retired, I work on what I feel like working on when I feel like working. Unfortunately I just recently discovered the MR forum. I’m spending too much time here. It is addictive but infomative.
Walter Clot in Columbia, TN
Realism!! I don’t go nuts on details, but I model my own rail line now. I got tired of getting it right I lost the Fun of the hobby. But a tree should look like a tree and a road should look like a road.