Design Philosophy

[Beck]

Hello Everyone,

I'm currently finishing up a model and wasn't quite sure if I wanted to include a small detail. That got me thinking; do you ever choose to omit a detail from a model out of personal taste or preference? I guess this question is only really relevant to those who try to replicate specific trains rather than those who design purely from their imagination.

[deraven]

No so much with trains specifically for me, but I think some artistic license is fine (thought I would probably not specifically refer to the MOC as a "replica" but instead as my own version or interpretation thereof).  I see it like how an illustrator for different types of media would draw a real-life piece of hardware: generally they make sure they get all the most prominent elements right but otherwise try to capture the "feel" more than every specific detail.

And I guess it does come down to what level of detail.  I mean, if you're building a famous steam loco and decide you don't want to include any stacks or something, that might be a bit much.  

[dtomsen]

If I can capture a detail without exaggerating too much, I'll try to when doing models of real stock.

Exaggerating is the operative word here and where it usually goes wrong in my opinion.

The goal is models, not caricatures.

Often a model is better off without a tiny detail than with one - and looks better overall too 

Imagination is a powerful tool and can usually fill out the blanks.

Edited January 12, 2021 by dtomsen

[Lok24]

2 hours ago, Beck said:

That got me thinking; do you ever choose to omit a detail from a model out of personal taste or preference?

Yes, of course. Depending on the model scale, the smallest Lego part might be much to big.

[zephyr1934]

8 hours ago, Beck said:

That got me thinking; do you ever choose to omit a detail from a model out of personal taste or preference?

I think every design choice is to either add a feature with some amount of imperfection, or omit a feature with some amount of imperfection. So in each case it comes down to figuring out which is the worst outcome, but really, it is the combination of multiple trade-offs taken together. If I build this wall studs up I can easily make thin horizontal features, if I build it studs sideways I can easily make thin vertical features, but with studs out with a tile front..., etc.. Then again, I could do a hybrid with studs facing all sorts of directions, but now the interior gets really complicated, the model gets heavy and there is no place to put the battery box. Not to mention part availability in a semi-rare color. Oh boy, solving all of the optimization problems is half the fun when you finish the model and can say, "I built that."

But getting back to omitting features, the hardest one for me is pinstripes on passenger cars, so many liveries in the US used stripes that would be half a plate or thinner at scale. Ugh, there is no good solution unless you are fortunate enough to be able to squeak in a thin element (e.g., the hinge brick trick)