I can see us heading towards the “NO STAIRWAY” sign! 
(Apologies to anyone not familiar with Wayne’s World…)
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I can agree with you completely. I respect what others want out of the hobby and would expect the same in return. I will even say that I don’t care what others do because it doesn’t affect me one whit. However I have seen far too many threads go this route:
AA: What’s the best detailed kit of a late production Veeblefetzer?
BB: The DML kit is pretty good, but it’s more of a “later” production. Several of the last simplifications are missing. It also has the 24 inch idler when it should be the 22 inch wheel.
CC: I like the 1977 Tamiya kit - it falls together and you don’t get bogged down with a zillion parts.
BB: Well, except that it is a Mk 2 and the OP was asking about a Mk 9. Plus it has a lot of dimensional compromises for motorization, the grab handles are missing or molded solid, rubber band tracks, etc. It’s a good kit for a beginner to start on but hardly the best detailed.
CC: Did you ever stop and think that maybe not everybody wants a 1000 piece every nut and bolt separate kit of a the 12th tank built on Tuesday the 14th??? You rivet counters are ruining the hobby. I’ll bet you never build anything because you are too worried about putting a micrometer on everything. Don’t you realize modeling is supposed to be FUN?!?!?!?
Here’s my generalization based on what I’ve seen:
Rivet counters criticize models, fun builders criticize other modelers.
KL
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And I laugh at everybody, including myself!
Ken
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We are reading from the same hymn sheet approached from opposite ends. I am very aware of the situation you describe and have seen it many times, the real problems start when ego comes into play. what I would say is that reading replies can easily come across wrong due to the lack of inflection.
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It’s not just Wayne’s World. Go into the local Guitar Center and test it out.
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This is getting all a bit silly IMHO.
We are reviewing reviews. There’s isn’t a level playing field to start with. Take the manufacturers. Each one has a different standard. Their standard could be based on rivet counting. Engineering. Costs. Target market, etc etc etc. How many Tiger 1’s are there out there? Yet each of them has their pros and cons. So then we throw in a reviewers opinion and his/her perception of what’s a ‘good/great’ kit. Add to that the reviewers ability to communicate their opinions via text or video. There are some great YouTube builds out there from excellent model builders. But some of those folks should never be allowed near a mic or video camera. They just can’t communicate. A 2000 word review can be precise and to the point and just 2000 words of waffle. Yet even the 2000 precise review may miss the information I’m interested in.
Time for a reality check.
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If only I could play! Sadly nobody would want to hear me strumming anything, let alone Stairway…
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Go for it. You play and I will listen. When I was a kid I avoided learning to play an instrument. Just one thing less to have to do. I have regretted it for the rest of my life. I listen to Clapton, or most anyone else, and think why did I do that. I could start now but my time is divided too thinly to do justice to learning music. I am retiring in a few years so maybe I will get a second shot.
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TopSmith I purchased a guitar in my teens. Dear father had a meltdown about me being a ‘hippy’ and the guitar disappeared. From that day on wards I regretted never learning to play anything. The fool maybe!!
But to the point. Being knowledgeable about a subject and being able to communicate it are two different issues.
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I played drums since I was about 8, all through school. I was in concert band, jazz ensemble, and marching band ( couldn’t play school sports because of eye problems but the Army had no problem taking me lol!) . I played sports and weightlifted outside of school. Haven’t played in about 15 years, no room for a set. I have a beautiful stereo that I love to blast from time to time. Man I miss it ! One expensive hobby is enough.
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There’s probably a very good reason for that. But, right now, I can’t put my finger on what it is… 
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Add LED lighting to the light saber.
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Is it because the fun builders are insecure? If they were as comfortable in their style of modeling as much as the detailers are in theirs, and cared as little about how others enjoy their hobby as detailers do, there wouldn’t be a disparity, would there?
KL
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Could be the building philosophy is different. Detailers are focusing on accuracy whereas many OOB builders are just happy with whats in the box. The quest for accuracy and what is accurate leads to higher demands and requirements which drives the issues we are talking about.
Things often go in circles. As a kid OOB was all there was. After reading articles about Shepard Paines work, I started detailing by doing some basic scratch building. Viola! Someone invented Photo Etch. Wow talk about upping the detailing game. The resin parts, oh my, things are getting expensive. Someone threw metal barrels into the mix followed by indy track. $100 and over per kit… Now with the better molding processes and manufacturers making indy track, my aftermarket purchases have dropped and I am moving closer to OOB again. Who would have thought.
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Its difficult to know where to start in pointing out the irony in this post but suffice to say it validated my opinion perfectly for all to see.
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I have nothing but admiration for the superdetailers. They often set a standard far beyond anything I’ll ever meet, but their models are super cool to look at. At the same time, anyone who builds to a lower standard is fine with me too. Heck, I see folks using cardboard and housepaint and scratching models because they can’t afford or acquire kits - and that’s great! Just build stuff to the level you want and enjoy the hobby already.
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I have a couple old renwal kits. They were fun then and I think they’ll be fun now. Out of curiosity, I look to see if there are any reviews of some I’ll build. I already know that they’re basically toys, but I will build them all the same. Nostalgic?. Whatever. I found the self-propelled 8-inch Howitzer out there on a site called Mil-Mod. The modeler did a great job on reworking it, he even scratchbuilt the louvers over the engine, so he could show the scratchbuilt engine. Elsewhere, he decided to build their Skysweeper and an M8 tractor. The M8 source was the old 1:48 scale Aurora kit. He scratchbuilt the thing out of something like 4000 parts and spent a couple hundred hours to build it.
Rivet counter? Super detailer? I am in awe of everything that he did and wish that I had the time and knowledge and patience to do the same. Modelers like he are awesome. But I’ll build mine OOB. Rivet counter? Out of box builder? I appreciate both types.
There’s definitely a difference in philosophies, but so what? That’s the thing I’ve been trying to emphasize all along. Everybody enjoys the hobby in their own way, as it should be. People should not care about, or comment on, another modeler’s philosophies. What difference does it make to me how you build? Why would you care what I do?
However, people are people and they just can’t help themselves. What I’ve seen is that if you look through the forums and posts over the years you will find a lot more threads where a Fun Builder is smugly chastising someone for being interested in accuracy and details than you will of the reverse.
It really seems to be that many Fun Builders cannot accept/acknowledge/understand that there are people having FUN enjoying the hobby in ways different than they do. I just don’t see why they care, or why they feel compelled to say “Modeling is supposed to be FUN!”
I know that. It is fun. That’s why I do it.
KL
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Can’t accuse any adult that’s willing to step up and build a model of any sort as insecure. That’s preposterous given the stigma the hobby is held in by most folks.
It’s hilarious that one might viewed it as two cleary divided camps: Rivet Counters vs Out of the Boxers.
Like myself, the majority of real life modelers I know freely alternate between detailed/super detailed projects and out of the box projects. Lot of what gets built depends on depth of interest in the subject matter rather than what’s in the box.
I’ve seen too many Out of the Box models crush detailed/super detailed models at various model contests over the years to ever treat an OOB build/builder with disrespect.
Rivet counter summons to my mind a picture of one of those sad, pendactant, poorly socialized, defensive anal personality types (aka loser) that stays bent out of shape due to a lack of attention on that person’s given area of special interest. I’ve seen these sorts of rivet counters nearly get into a fist fight at an IPMS Nationals before over triva. Definitely have zero desire to be associated or identified with that sort despite building detail and even super detailed models on occasion.
Once upon a time, being a very serious contest model builder, I learned usually when the Build for Fun crowd is complaining its because the serious types are coming off as fun killing jerks. (At heart, I’m still very much a Basic Construction rules, all else is secondary with my own builds.)
The serious modeler(s) may be quite unaware of how badly he or she comes across to others.
One of my favorite examples was when a serious modeler a certified rivet counter said quality control for the models was required for a club airplane model display. Club participation in said event was decimated by that one comment. He was totally unaware of the damage from his callous comment. The Fun Builders were all bent out of shape and some of the serious types annoyed as well.
That’s not at all what I said.
I questioned whether it was insecurity about some aspect of how Fun Builders chose to enjoy the hobby that led them to regularly shade Detailers and implore them to have fun.
On several occasions I have read claims that Detailers have “ruined” kits for Fun Builders by pointing out what is wrong about them. I would think if you just wanted to have a fun build such information wouldn’t matter.
KL