BAN502 hex bolt flat head 1,5mm

The joint as a visual element

Small heads act as a texture on a model. The viewer takes them in as a whole, as density, and an individual piece blends into its surroundings. One and a half millimeters is beyond that boundary. Such a head is seen on its own, the eye counts them and takes in how they are laid out. The builder has to work with that consciously, because the layout here carries as much weight as the quality of the part itself.

Typical use

It shows most with figures in 1:6 and 1:9, with robotic machines and with scratch-built structures that did not come from a kit. On equipment, on joints and on panels this grade creates a rhythm that would otherwise have to be laboriously suggested. On a motorcycle in 1:12 it covers the joints on the load-bearing frame and on the swingarm, that is the places that visually hold the model together.

Principles of the layout

• choose regular spacings; irregularity tells at once here
• reduce the number of heads rather than increase it; an overloaded surface loses readability
• on a curved surface reckon with distances visually shortening
• photograph a trial layout; in the shot you will see mistakes sooner than by eye

The last piece of advice is surprisingly effective. A photograph flattens space and mercilessly shows what is shifted or turned. For a builder who spends hours over a model and stops seeing it, it is the quickest way to regain distance and decide what still needs redoing. A phone and even light from a window are enough; the quality of the shot plays no part here, the point is only to see the layout again and from a distance.