There's another side to this argument about ARF/kit/plans/scratch.

As one gets older (really older), there is far less time left to enjoy life. While I truly love designing & building models from scratch, it just takes too damned long. My life is ticking away & I very much prefer flying, to sitting in the basement, despite the pleasure that a good "build" brings. For me, that's where ARF's really show their stuff. I can buy a good looking & good flying model, & have it in the air in a few days.

I'm long past worrying about the niggling details -- been there & done that. I'm long past the "look what I did all by myself" stage -- been there & done that too. ARF's just get better & better -- they look pretty good -- much better than most modellers can turn out themselves (at least in a believable amount of time). They also fly pretty well --- if they don't fly quite right, it is no trick for me to fix the problem, as it is also no trick to catch the quality niggles before they get airborn. They are also great fun to bash into something else -- & that bit of building goes quickly.

I still grind slowly through an occasional scratch job, but very infrequently now --- I prefer to go flying (it's also a lot cheaper with an ARF).