That is kinda where I am at overall, maybe a little lean towards the "I'm too old to fight a crappy kit" but I get it.
I'm nearing retirement and am financially healthy, so dropping $100 to $200 USD for a quality kit is actually a paying pennies for my time and effort while avoiding stress. The latter is one reason I enjoy building and painting...stress relief.
That said, when building a kit with 800+ parts, or one of those Zoukei kits with intense complexity, there's something beneficial of the cheapo ki that you can assemble (not counting paint and finishing) in a weekend. It helps keep the mojo going.
Kinda went with my own interpretation of what wear the variable geometry wing might have on the airframe.....open to suggestions, I have at least 4 other Tomcats on the shelf to perfect the effects.
Not totally accurate but if Revell is going to give me injector pins in critical detail areas I'm going to use them....front landing gear wheel bay walls