I usually avoid making detailed plans, performing this in the head takes the fun from building diorama later, making it into some mundane slog. I usually collect photos, sometimes buy addons, do some tests with materials, but final job is mostly improvized.
Notes are usually post-its with ideas thrown inside model’s box, I always forget to read notes, no matter if paper or digital.
I agree to a large extent. I almost never write any plans down or draw any kind of schematic of layout. For better or worse, I managed to build an entire custom motorcycle from scratch without ever putting pencil to paper. Subsequent projects followed suit.
I get an idea in my head about what I want to do. I’ll either start it then, or just file it away for later, sometimes purchasing the kits (or parts) and storing them until the time comes. For modeling projects, I may do continued research for years until I find everything I want. For bikes I never do research - I don’t want to be inadvertently influenced by anyone else.
When build time comes it’s simply a matter of arranging things in a pleasing arrangement - vehicles and figures, motorcycle components, whatever the case may be. I’ve found (through other creative outlets) that trying to stick to a prescribed plan often inhibits my creative juices. Merely trying to make something fit because that was in the original plan often leads to frustration, wasted time, or inability to see a better or cooler way I hadn’t thought of before.
Same with my writing. There’s no outline from start to finish, and no plan. I write chapters that pop into my head, and figure out where they go later. Each one is like a vignette. In two case I’ve had the ending nailed down before I knew with any certainty how they were going to begin.
Similar idea applies to the largest diorama I’ve been working on for years. I know what it looks like in my head. I build a vehicle as best I can to suit the diorama, and squirrel it away until it’s needed. I’ve been fortunate that in the interim a few vehicles have become available that were not when i started.
Semper Gumby - that’s the only real plan.