Now you have some idea of the best ways to connect bricks and make your models strong. It’s also important to understand how to plan your constructions. You want to build sensibly so that you minimize problems and enjoy your building sessions to the fullest. Here are a couple of basic principles that will help you do that.
No matter how big you think your model might end up, consider breaking the entire work down into smaller sections that are easier to work on. You’ll make the model seem less daunting and make it easy to figure out how to build very high sections or perhaps sections that are constructed at different angles than the rest of the model. For example, if you’re building a skyscraper, think about building sections of a few floors each, then attach these sections to each other.
If you’re making a model of a real life object, like a building or a vehicle, examine the object and try to find natural separations. This might be where the size or shape changes dramatically or where one color ends and another begins.
Existing separations can help you to determine how to build your model in sections. For example, if you’re building a pickup truck, you might want to build the cab separately from the box section.
The decision of which of the three main bonding patterns to use (Figures Figure 2-2 through Figure 2-4) will vary from model to model and even within the same model. You won’t always want to use overlapping, despite its obvious strengths. Sometimes you will want to stack bricks and other times you will want to stagger them. Throughout the book, I point out which pattern you’re using and why. As a result, as you move on to designing and building your own models, you will have a better sense of the pattern you should use at any given time.