High Poly or Low Poly????

I have started building a boat in 3ds max and I am starting to pay to much attention to detail which I always tend to do on everything. I am modeling the screws heads even so u can see the cut out part where u can stick a screw driver in there and start to un loosten it.I know it sounds stupid why model something that they cant see unless they look closely.I thaught I would ask everyone's opinion on here

What do u think high poly model that has every little detail possible in it that is used only for screenshot pictures and render purposes. Or one that is low poly? That I can animate and do many more things with it.

I want to make 2 models of the same boat one very low poly so I can use it in animations and the other a high poly model that I can use for render prints and to sowcase how good it looks and all the details I have put into the boat. Please give me your input or opinions on this im interested to hear what u guys think

whether to make a low poly or high poly model should be decided before construction. You need to decide what purpose the model is intended to fill. For animation, you generaly use a low polygon model. However, in animation, a low poly model could be used as a proxy for a high poly model. Similarly, for a portfolio, both low and high poly models are appropriate as it will show that you can create high poly for print, and low polys for animation / games etc.

My opinion would be to make both!!! Continue with the high poly model (possibly looking at using texture / bump / displacement maps for fine details) and use something similar to the 'Multi-Res' modifier in 3D Studio Max, to reduce to a low poly state. This will prevent you from having to re-model the boat. Also look at using the 'normal mapping' features in 3D Studio Max 7. This will use the geometry of a high poly model to generate fantastic texture and bump maps that can be applied to a low poly model.

If you are looking at the boat from the equivalent of 3 feet away or more, a simple bump map would suffice in depicting the screws and the smaller details.

However, if this is a personal challenge, I see nothing wrong with modelling out the whole thing.