REALLY glad to see you are back posting, and back to building.
Main thing..... enjoy doing the thread.
BAD build threads are....... the ones that nobody ever created. It's not a contest.
Photos: I like to avoid clutter in images. But even cluttered is better than no image.
I try to use a simple background. If it is small enough, I use poster paper (cheap at Dollar Tree) for a background (I prefer not to use white because white parts tend to blend into the background too much). I usually take multiple photos of the same angle and pick the best one later (digital image electrons are “cheap”, unlike expensive film). Also try other angles and lighting. Sometimes flash is needed, sometimes no flash closer-up is better. I add lamps sometimes, other times not. This is especially true for small details that are trickier to show well and also can be out-of-focus so again it's useful to take multiple shots and review the images real-time when practical.
For some this would be overkill, but at least try to avoid clutter and monitor your shots as you go along to at least be sure they are decently focused and decently lit. I also open the images in an editor and crop as needed to maximize the image of the model or its parts, reduce size %, and adjust brightness or contrast sometimes to improve the image. Again for some that would be overkill, but some “poor” images can be improved or saved that way rather than re-shooting (if possible).
Timing: depends on the project. For something simpler, like say converting a Halloween candy bowl to fly as a flying Saucer, I usually build it first and test it to see if it works, then post a thread about it. Other things are works-in-progress with updates over time. Not "daily", but when there was some significant progress to document. Maybe several things over a longer period as multiple things were done then finally an update to catch up. Sometimes the opposite, more than one post about one particular aspect, to split things up (making a master part, then a mold, then molded copies). Whatever seems suitable.
My Lunar Module Quadcopter thread was a mix of a lot of the above. I did NOT announce I was starting to build it. but I did take a lot of photos along the way to document it for my own reasons and also for a build thread later. I built the basic Descent Stage without legs, added the Quadcopter parts, and Test Flew it first to see if it flew worth a darn. Because there was a very real chance it would not fly well, and I do not mean some simple fixable problem but inherently it might just suck as a flying model with no viable way to solve it and I swore to myself that if it flew poorly I was going to abandon he project. And I didn’t want to have the pressure of announcing it and having a very public build thread where I’d feel like I needed to continue on with it anyway if it did suck.
Once I found that it worked well, then I began the build thread that announced the project and documented it to the level of progress it was at the time, then updated it every now and then as there were new developments, it was improved (Ascent Stage, Legs, colors and markings), and tested more, and so on. But again that was a unique project. If it had been an “R&D” type project, to try some new tech or new design and see if it could work or not, I’d have felt comfortable documenting it from the beginning and see where things led.
Lunar Module thread link:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/flying-r-c-lunar-module-quadcopter-project.137174/
The thread below is one that James Duffy began, about building the Estes 1/45 Little Joe-II kit. I joined into it, and later so did John Pursley. James and I documented our builds along the way (and flying), so it was mostly from the start. So, it's a good example.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...-joe-ii-tips-tricks-and-modifications.131767/
