Right Bob. I have been about ten years in the hobby and have built many arfs and kits as well, I have built the kits for fun, I know I'm building somebody else's design and as you said I'm practically building an arf the hard way, but I really know what I'm doing, I like to spend the building time hearing soft or classical music, enjoying a good beberage and knowing that kids are already sleeping, I do not care if an easy kit takes me one month or a full year to complete, because I'm not in a hurry with my kits, thats why I have several ARFS, they keep me flying all the season and the kits keep me busy in home, when ever I need this activity, so as you can see I do not have any against ARFS or KITS I enjoy them all in the way that I think they were created for.
This is a Hobby.
Enjoy it.