Page layout question

[John Dell]

I’d like everyone’s opinion on something.

When I laid out the nose turreted B-24s I had originally thought Fiddlers Green would sell them so I used Chip’s “fill up the page” design philosophy. My question is would people prefer if I left all the historical stuff off the parts sheets? I want to keep the extras such as the oil drums and ammo boxes but I figured it would save everyone’s ink cartridges if I left off all that extra text. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

[Scott K]

I like to "fill up the page" myself, but with useful parts, to save both paper and ink. Leave the extra information in, but on a seperate page, so it's not necessary to be printed in order to build the model. I like the extra accessories and would keep them, too, but maybe they could go on their own page as well?

Scott K.

[Leif Ohlsson]

I don't mind "reading" a model much like a book or a comic book, many times back and forth, in order to understand it better. I can see the rationale for separating things, but it also makes for a duller model, from a reading perspective. - L.

[Zathros]

My opinion is of the following. Leave all historical data on a page for reading. Arrange the parts so that if someone wanted too, they could upscale the model easily. A lot of people have larger format printers and this is a consideration. Personally, I really cannot stand having too cut through a maze of parts. I have seen many modelers do this. It's hard on the hands. I don't mind big pieces of blank scrap because I usually use them for laminating, also, if you need to reprint a part, it's nice to just have to print a page with a few parts than the whole thing all over again. That's just my opinion. My hands hurt a lot when doing a lot of cutting, so this may be a real minority view.

[Tim Crowe]

Zathros - You're not the only one.

My hands hurt too with lots of cutting. I usually separate out the two tasks, with a cup of tea (or single malt)

I like space round parts too - avoids slippage with knives.

Tim

[Scott K]

Here's an example of my own parts layout. From my upcoming "Flying Stove Pipe" series. The stand page is the most crowded, and could be split over 2 pages.

Scott K.

[pdmccool]

When I'm laying out parts, I try my best to place them so that they can be printed on the fewest pages, while allowing for ease of cutting. I, too, hate having dozens of fiddly little bits to cut out on a single page, but I also tend to rearrange models before printing where they are spread out over more pages than I feel is necessary.

[Scott K]

Originally Posted by Scott K

Here's an example of my own parts layout. From my upcoming "Flying Stove Pipe" series. The stand page is the most crowded, and could be split over 2 pages.

Scott K.

Oops, hit "submit", rather than "Manage Attachments". Can't edit my last post to add the picture, either, don't know why. "Go Advanced" didn't work.

Anyway, here's the pic.


Scott K.

[airdave]

If its a free model...do what you want, and present it anyway you want.

I get complaints about the banner artwork across the top of every KoolWheelz model.
I don't care.
Its my project, my presentation, my fun.

If its a "pay" model, then respect the purchaser by trying to waste as little space as possible on the pages
but keep the unneccessary stuff to a minimum.
In fact, create dedicated pages for things like Instructions, History, facts, Tips, and reference images.
This way the Builder can print these pages on less expensive papers and only if they really want to.

Spreading parts out over more pages is pointless.
Just a waste of pages and paper.
You are still cutting out the same number of parts, no matter how many pages they are on!

To be honest, I think there is an extreme amount of wasted space and unneccessary items on FG pages
...a lot of ink is wasted when printing...but I tolerate it because of the low cost and quality effort that goes into the models.

[YankeeBoy]

Separating parts to be printed on card, parts to be printed on paper and parts to be laminated is nice. History, optional accessories, etc. should not be on parts sheets.