Stirling 8' Single

[Jon Nazareth]

Ian

Ah, the inventive mind!

Jon

[IanT]

There's usually has to be some kind of trade-off between 'scale' and 'robust' and/or 'working' Jon.

If your model is going to be in a glass case on the mantelpiece, then 'fine-scale' is much more practical than if it might de-rail on someone's (less than perfect) track - not that we have such things in G3 of course! Also many things simply won't scale in the real world.

I've never thought too deeply about it and I'm sure that "fine-scale" means different things to different people but perhaps there are 'layers' to it?

The first is about simply ensuring that the general dimensions/proportions of the model are correctly scaled (e.g. scale height, width & length) and that the model simply looks "right". I'm sometimes surprised at how much some designers change or ignore these key dimensions for no apparent (good) reason.

The second is about the amount (and level) of detail involved - for example the brake fittings and cab detail. This has to be personal taste but sometimes you see models with one feature very well modelled and another completely omitted. I think the only rule here has to be to try to get the same level of detail throughout...

The third is that point where any 'scale' model just ceases to be 'usable' - in the sense that if it was an exact miniature replica of the original, many of the parts would either be too frail to function or just fail to work - a 'replica' model boiler being a good example.

To my mind, if you are going to build an engine from scratch, then you may as well try to get Level 1 right where possible. However, Level 2 is very much a matter of preference and how 'fragile' you want (or can risk) your model to be. Level 3 is not really a matter of choice, these are areas that must either be accepted or ignored - but which are also hopefully either not apparent (like the actual internals of the model boiler) or which can be disguised (dummy steam pipes etc).   

So another long winded reply I'm afraid - but your question sits somewhere on the border between a Level 2 & 3 issue I think (the overall level of detail needed or wanted vs the practicality of using scale materials) and you are the only one who can really decide on what the right answer is for you.

The compromise generally adopted is to try and use the material nearest to the full-sized one provided it doesn't seriously impair the reliability of the model and on most published 2.5" designs, some slimming down is possible - framework being a good example. In G3 we need a certain level of robustness/strength but we do not need to factor in dragging hugely out of scale loads (e.g. giant drivers!) around...

:-)

Regards,

IanT