Gosh! I thought this hoary old subject had been put to bed ages ago.
As far as I recall it’s always been a subject that ends up in acrimony.
I consider myself to be a scratch builder. I’ve always built my own GRP hulls, and in the “early days” made all my own bits’n’pieces. Once I proved to myself that I could make a bit, I had/have no qualms about buying the equivalent commercial item. I mean, paying 25p for an funnel stay eyebolt knocks spots off spending about half an hour making one. The same goes for things like the triple sheave lifeboat fall blocks.
But again, it all depends on the scale of your model, and many items are particular to that individual model. I couldn’t give a brass farthing about “kit” or “scratch” or anything in-between…..as long as the builder has put his best efforts into it. What does annoy me are those “builders” or buyers who just clag bits together as quickly as possible and really haven’t a clue or any real interest in the actual model. That sort of attitude, to my way of thinking, just cheapens the work done by those who do care. BY.