Sure, K44, i agree with your post nearly 99%.
There is a place for all of that, but it´s just not the same. Not really something that can be compared or compete directly.
There is a difference between a shake and bake kit, a "standard" kit, a kitbashed kit or a scratchbuild kit. All the later need the same painting skills, but additional they need more building skills (and diffent building skills, too).
As a judge you also see upset people with "i added each available PE/3Dprinted-upgrade set that´s available, why don´t you judged my build over this more oob-kit?" Then try to explain that this other build is just BUILD better, and that the pure existence of better deteiled addons is no neccessary a guarantee to get a better place in contest.
Scarecrow, maybe you understand me better when you know that painting and weathering is something for me that i need to do. The least liked part of a build for me, a neccessary evil. I can do it, but i prefer the building stages.
I rarely complained about the existing kits, i usually complained about not enough kits available. And that is the one thing about Bandai where i would give Bandai the gold medal, even if nearly none of their kits fits my wishes. I ordered the B-Wing, long waited for one in 1/72, maybe will add it to my hangar dio. Would also order a 1/72 Tydirium (and some other kits if they ever release them).
Many other kits have the wrong scale/size for the special subject. My stash has already more stuff than i ever can build in this lifetime, so i am very selective what i add. 1/72 is a great scale for dios, big enough to have something to see and small enough to build bigger scenes. But for a standalone fighter on display i prefer something around 1/32 (studioscale is also to big for my taste). That doesn´t make smaller or bigger scales than my prefered not bad, just nothing for me. Something equally for big ships - a 15cm Tantive, Enterprise, or SD does nothing for me - they need a certain size to reflect their original (should be) dimensions. If Bandai offers a 30-45cm Tantive ..... i´m in, no matter i already have 2 JPG Tantives in 1/350 . Just not that small they released now.
But the size aspect and the building aspect are different things for me, and under the line my opinions to both are just that, my opinions. It´s my point of view, but nothing that should convince someone to follow my opinion. Another argument in a discussion, nothing more. One of the reasons the world gets more and more boring is that most people can´t agree to disagree and go on, as soon as not everyone hails up to whatever they show (no matter the reasons) they immediatly feel being attacked. They can´t stand opposite opinions and still accept that other opinions are equally valid as their own, not better or wronger than their own, just different.
And it won't change my opinion--and that's all it is, my opinion--that regardless of whether you're building a model kit, or learning to drive a car, or whatever you're attempting to do, there are a set of basic skills that need to be learned first, then improved upon through practice and trial and error.
