I'm definitely in the "modeling" camp. I honestly doubt I'll enjoy flying my "scale masterpiece" one bit more than any old ARF. Sure it'll be a LOT more photogenic in the air but that's about it.

As far as why I love scale RC modeling to degree that I'm willing to spend close to two years working on one model, well that's harder to say. Part of it is a deep fascination with the history of aircraft and the pilots who flew them. I'm never going to pilot a full-scale airplane but flying a model let's me at least pretend.