Art,
It is definitely an interesting debate, and like much else in model railroading, there seems to be more than one right answer.
I guess I see things in 4 different ways:
1) Toy: lots of low end products fall into this category. There are oversized or missing details, garish colours, shiny plastic, etc.
2) Believable - a lot of model scenery falls into this category. (Almost) no one can make a full forest to scale, but you can make a forested area believable. Some people apply the "three (or four) foot rule" when judging if something is believable. Others might argue that the "characatured" work fits here too - its believable, but not necessarily realistic or prototypical.
3) Realistic - while the model may not have a prototypical equivalent, the building (for example) is plausible. You get the feeling you've seen it somewhere before. Also, lots of guys have "fictional" roads with company paint schemes and so on, and I would say that type of modelling falls here.
4) Prototypical. A faithful, exact scale model of the real thing. Achieving this level almost always means that the result is also believable and realistic, but not always...! sign1
My $0.02
Andrew
It is definitely an interesting debate, and like much else in model railroading, there seems to be more than one right answer.
I guess I see things in 4 different ways:
1) Toy: lots of low end products fall into this category. There are oversized or missing details, garish colours, shiny plastic, etc.
2) Believable - a lot of model scenery falls into this category. (Almost) no one can make a full forest to scale, but you can make a forested area believable. Some people apply the "three (or four) foot rule" when judging if something is believable. Others might argue that the "characatured" work fits here too - its believable, but not necessarily realistic or prototypical.
3) Realistic - while the model may not have a prototypical equivalent, the building (for example) is plausible. You get the feeling you've seen it somewhere before. Also, lots of guys have "fictional" roads with company paint schemes and so on, and I would say that type of modelling falls here.
4) Prototypical. A faithful, exact scale model of the real thing. Achieving this level almost always means that the result is also believable and realistic, but not always...! sign1
My $0.02
Andrew