Honestly these days we have less and less time to build and for me actually fixing an ARF paid for airframe because manufacturer so called faults isn’t rewarding or being considered as a joy coming out of “building” it just makes me upset ...
So to me is either an ARF that really is an ARF ( there are some companies out there that stand behind their description ) on which I can concentrate taking that kit “forward”.
Or actually purchasing a kit and do a real build on it ( that is what I would do if I would go with a SM F-18 project)
purchase an all white KIT .. much lesser price than a sheep in a Wolf dress and have my way with it completely from stage 1:-)...
Then there’s really no place to complain..
Nowadays I meticulously pick my build projects due the lack of time issue..still building a Y/A F/A-18 super scale model ..