I think you may be missing an important point. There are two activities that produce models of ships. One is assembling ship model kits and the other is building ship models from scratch. Both are enjoyable pursuits and for that reason both are worthy of being pursued by those who enjoy doing so. While they have many aspects in common, there are some significant differences between the two and between those who pursue each. Scratch building requires a far greater commitment and dedication of its practitioners. In return, building ship models from scratch alone offers the only opportunity to produce a unique original example of the ship modeling art. Assembling ship model kits also provides an opportunity to produce a ship model, and for some provides satisfaction in doing so, but by its very nature, no kit can ever produce an original expression of the ship modeler's art.
I disagree with your assertion that "only a very few possess an artistic talent, gift, or ability of building ships from scratch." Those who lack talents or gifts can make up the difference with ability because, of the three, ability can be learned in quantities sufficient to make up for any lack of the other two. It's not rocket science. Every bit of it is clearly presented in any number of books on the subject. The reason you might perceive those who build from scratch as "the few," is only because "the many" lack the dedication and intellectual curiosity to pursue a hobby that requires reading and research. What separates the "men" from the "boys" is the size of their libraries.
It seems to have become fashionable today for those whose abilities and accomplishments are inferior to accuse those whose are superior to theirs of being "elitist" or "arrogant." It seems their goal is to "lower the net" to accommodate the lowest common denominator and to make real life more like the Special Olympics where "everyone gets a prize." The folly in shaming those who excel for hurting the feelings of those who don't is that excellence is devalued, and mediocrity becomes the norm. Valuing excellence over mediocrity occasions no apology. Indeed, the qualitative measure of a ship model is in every aspect how close it approaches perfection in the areas of its originality, historical accuracy, choice of materials, technical execution, and artistic expression and presentation. So also, is the status of ship modelers measured because the essence of ship modeling is the solitary pursuit of excellence for its own sake. Anyone who elects to "take a pass" on learning the prerequisites for achieving excellence for whatever reason cannot begin to claim any right to the same respect as those who make and keep a commitment to acquiring the knowledge and skill necessary to progressively approach excellence in their modeling endeavors.
Kit manufacturers once provided a machine-carved rough hull blank, some strip wood and doweling, a few bits of string and wire, and a few cast pot metal parts, along with a set of plans, and, if you were lucky, a typewritten page or two of "general instructions." Those early kits from Model Shipways (the "yellow box" kits,) Bluejacket Shipcrafters, Marine Models, and Fisher's essentially demanded the same skills required for scratch building. It really wasn't possible to build those early models without having what today would be considered basic scratch building knowledge and skills. Over the years, though, technology has enabled kit manufacturers to provide laser cut wooden parts and extensively detailed instructions which permit those who follow them to produce respectable models with little or no prior knowledge or experience of the subject matter. To be sure, assembling these modern ship model kits provide the modeler with an introduction to the larger enterprise of ship modeling, but only to a point. Kits alone can never alone provide the depth of knowledge and experience demanded of a serious scratch builder. That requires a substantial investment of time, and money, in at least a basic research library on the broad spectrum of subjects encompassed by ship modeling itself and a true love of and near total immersion in the subject matter. For the truly committed, that research, study, and learning is one of, if not the most, enjoyable and satisfying aspect of the avocation. Those who choose to avoid that by simply buying a "canned model" in a kit, should not feel slighted by those who don't. They should own their choice, accepting that the costs of that choice are the consequent limitations they've chosen to live with.
This phenomenon is apparent in nearly all skilled endeavors. Anybody can make spaghetti and meatballs using canned spaghetti sauce, but that won't qualify them as a gourmet Italian chef. Anybody can buy a frozen apple pie but shouldn't expect to be complemented on what a great baker they are. Anybody can complete a "paint-by-numbers" kit, but they shouldn't take offense that it didn't win a prize at their local art fair. Nobody who cooks with pre-prepared canned and frozen foods or paints "paint-by-numbers" pictures has any standing to accuse accomplished, classically trained chefs or renowned artists of being "arrogant" or "elitist" when they try to "run with the big dogs." Finding oneself wanting when measuring oneself against others ought not to engender feelings of being "looked down upon," but rather motivate one to improve themselves in order to measure up... or, if they don't wish to expend that energy, which in the case of something as trivial as a hobby is entirely justifiable, accept the limitations of that decision.
Looking at it from the other end of the telescope, there is little as annoying to any experienced craftsman as being asked how to do something and then, when providing the answer, have to listen to contrary argument in response from those who obviously don't know what they are talking about because they asked the question in the first place. No position is more nonsensical than that "the perfect is the enemy of the good" in reference to an endeavor which is of its very essence the pursuit of excellence in detail, however impossible achieving such perfection may be. While I dispute the existence of such folks, it may be, should they actually exist, "that those that are unable to understand the complexities of scratch building" are no more capable of seriously pursuing scratch building than "deaf, dumb, and blind boys" are of playing pinball, so why should anyone bother to accommodate them? It's beyond me why those who expressly favor assembling kit models because "they don't want to be bothered" with the background research and study of scratch building and would rather limit their attention to assembling kits, would have any cause to expect respect equal to those who "enjoy the bother."
Make no mistake about it, the only distinction between a serious and accomplished scratch builder and a "common person" who "couldn't build a ship model from scratch" is that the accomplished scratch builder took the time to learn how. It is that commitment that ultimately separates the fly specks from the pepper. All of us must learn to walk before we run. Nobody should feel bad about walking while they are learning to run. Neither should anyone who doesn't wish to learn to run resent those who don't to wait for them to catch up.
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