Slap to the head

I have had one of those seminal modeling moments tonight.

I was in the process of mocking up the off side of an Ed (you know, the one for which no plan exists, but has a few windows etc), and had done all the calculations. I was doing it nearly 3 times the size so that I could shrink it down, and was measuring off in 1/2mm etc, and trying to keep everything square. I suddenly had that WTF moment when I wondered what I was doing. Would it really matter if the windows were slightly too big, or that I couldn't estimate the side grills size at all. No of course it didn't if i stood back 2'. I promptly threw caution to the wind and did the grills freehand (well, without too much reference to the ruler graduations).

I think its Darryls influence in the last couple of days. He's had a look at my models, bits of which I'm really not happy with and pronounced them very nice. I guess its because I don't have a layout at the moment and I'm concentrating on details instead of the overall picture (its hard to have a big picture in your head when you don't have 18' of real estate to fill up).

While Darryl was here I got out my plan of Paekakariki to have a look at the track layout more critically. I've added a couple more tracks in the yard to make it look busier, and was looking at the rest of the plan with a harsh eye (that's normally reserved for the shopping excesses of the lady of the house). The main loops will hold a loco plus 20 of the shorty 4 wheeled wagons. I wasn't sure that this looked right especially after putting the trains down on the plan. Again that WTF moment when I remembered that the whole 'Vision' for the layout is to model the exchanging of loco's and associated operations. The trains to a fair extent are only relevant to give the locomotives a reason to be there in the first place. The plan has been pretty much left as is as it will do the job, and anything more, while being more prototypically correct, will just add needless complications that a group of operators just won't need.

So, the next time you are stuck with an insurmountable modeling problem, its time to sit back with an alcoholic beverage of some description and ask yourself "Just WTF am I trying to do here".