How much detail is too much? Is there such a thing?

With me, it's knowing when to quit - be it with a particular model or with a certain detail on the current work in progress.

Case on point: This morning, after mangling my second attempt at assembling the PE liferaft racks for my Liberty ship (and thanking my stars I had bought two of that fret), I took a step back, finished my cup of coffee and then went back and looked at two things - the kit-supplied liferaft racks, and my reference photos. Pretty soon I was thinking, You know, if I add just the bracing from the PE parts to the plastic racks, they'd look an awful lot like what's in some of these pictures ...

Sometimes, you have to really, really remind yourself that good enough is good enough, but perfection is never attainable.

Depends on why your building the model.

In General

1. If it's just for fun add as much or little as much detail as you want.

2. If the area will be sealed up and not visible there really isn't much reason to add the detail unless it just makes you "feel" good.

Contest Modeling

If the model is for a medal or open judging type of show extra detail is usually a good thing. If the model is for an IPMS sponsored show the detail will only matter if the basic construction is good. Most of the time at IPMS shows your better off with a stock out of the box model with top notch basic construction (no seams, no punch marks, no glue spots etc) and no extra detail than lot's of details added and an unfilled punch mark or seam.

Poorly, excuted detail like mangled photo-etch, resin with tool marks, crooked parts alignment will actually hurt the model at a show that places emphasis on clean basic construction ie the typical IPMS show. Adding detail can be an opportunity to "mess up" in some cases.

Personally, if the model isn't a contest model, I'll add detail until I get bored and want to move the next project. If the model is a contest model, I'll only add stuff I know I can do and get right. Most of the time I build out of the box kit's because I enjoy building and painting more than detailing. Painting and weathering is the most fun part of the hobby for me. 

The Cat's Meow

Scratchbuilt when done correctly trumphs aftermarket details and resin, in the wow factor and contest circut. My skills are very lacking in this area but I have the greatest respect for those that can do it well.

Here's the thing, I'm about as amateur as an amateur can be - 1 model in the last 17 years.  Last time I built, there was no such thing as PE or resin upgrade kits or even AM decal sheets.  You built what was in the box and if you had the skill, scratch built some stuff.

But now that I'm back and ready to play, I'm not going to let the whole "amateur" thing get in my way of learning these things.  I know how to build and paint OOB.  I used to do it every weekend for years before I stopped.  Now, I'm forcing myself to learn scratch building, PE and working with the resin kits.  If I have an over-detailed model at the end, good for me.  If I end up with a pile of scrap, as long as I've learned a few new skills in the process, good for me, too.

-Fred

IYAAYAS wrote:

to much is when it stops being fun!  fun for you, not trying to impress your buddy at the club meeting...

but i must add this........  only add as much as your ability will let you without ruining  an expensive model  in other words don't add that resin cockpit and exhaust jets if your not comfortable with using resin

Well, after much deliberation, here's what I've ended up with; a verlinden resin cockpit, an Eduard PE set to accent the verlinden set, gunbay and wheelwell details and an Academy machine gun set to get the belt of .50 cal ammo (even though it's 1/35 it beats having to assemble the CB stuff).

I figure since this is fairly cost prohibitive and I certainly won't be able to do this with every model, I might as well go all out with this one.

I'm giving myself a couple of months, if not longer, to build this puppy.

-Fred

I love love love detail. It's why I'm here. I agree with the sentiment that if you don't see it after it's built, painted and weathered, it's not needed. But it may not be too much. My standards change throughout the build. I'll start out by telling myself " OOB OOB OOB!" just so that I can get moving. As I progress, I'll get some initiative to detail. But it only took one instance of super detailing roadwheels on a Sherman- only to end up slathering 'em in mud- before I realized that I spent too long on some of the finer points. Sure, I knew the oil caps were there, but who else would care? The mud became a more important factor in the scene. This is because I started off simply wanting to build the tank, halfway through deciding on how it would be displayed.

I figure that if I know how the model will be portrayed before I start, then I'll know where to place the focus on the detail. But that's me, and I build 'em for dios. They will not be picked up and be inspected from underneath. This may not be helpful to others.

Steve 

As for me..if I'm building a 1/32 or 1/24th plane I like to detail the cockpit as much as possible. I believe that is the foccal point for many viewers so I dig into my pockets and buy a good cockpit detail set from either Verlinden, Eduard or Black Box. I'm finding myself spending more on the detail sets than the kit itself but it's worth it. I just can't seem to get back into building a kit OOB anymore.

Scott

For me, I'm not getting too worried about things like wheelbays or other parts on the underside--that one would not see unless you picked up the model and looked for with a magnifying glass.

I would, however, like to do more with removing panels and showing avionics and gunbays, etc--on the top/visible part of the model.

Flynavy1958

what is too much??

only you can decide that.  if going all out with every am piece you can find is your thing then too much may be just a point where you say ok i havent any more room to deal with.  if oob is your thing then even wires for cables is too much.

joe 

It's definitely too much if you never finish the model.

It's probably too much if it won't ever be seen (my opinion only).

Beyond that, build what you like, and like what you build.

Regards,

Well, let's say, for the sake of the discussion, that money isn't a real deciding factor.  It's part of it, but not enough where you can say "well...I'd love to add this detail set, but I can't afford it".  Say you had between $60 and $80 to spend between the kit and extras.  Or, you're really good at scratchbuilding.

Let's say scratchbuilding, would you make a fuel door that opens or scale ammo in the ammo cans. Or adding every rivet or screw in a cockpit?

I agree with stopping with what you're comfortable with, but I can also see where it would be hard to stop once you get started.  You know something along the lines of "well, I just added a correct throttle control, maybe I can scratch build a choke control or weapons release switch".  Projects can really start to snowball, especially for those that do competitions.

-Fred

There have been so many discussions about this topic that IMO there is no "one " answer to it . I would suggest looking at the options and decide on what to do based on your own interest , capabilities , finances etc.