I've got a couple of ARF planes, and to me, they basically take the fun part of the build and do it for you. Then they leave you with the grunt work of installing pushrods, radio gear, engine, etc... The worst part, is that all of that work is easier if you do it earlier in the build, so they take the worst part (for me) of the build, and make it harder.

I know that everyone doesn't enjoy pinning bits of wood to a plan and glueing their fingers together. I am not knocking ARFs. I just really enjoy the building steps that lead up to the ARF stage more than the rest of the build.

And there are definitely some kits that build really easily (Four Star), and there are some ARFs that can take you 50+ hours to assemble.

Most tools that are required for building a kit are inexpensive (razor blades, Xacto knife, sandpaper). I think the biggest investment is probably in the covering tools.

And lastly, you generally do not save money by building a kit vs. an ARF. The cost of the kit, fuel tank, engine mount, wheels, and covering, is almost always more than a comparable ARF.

Good luck