I must admit I border on the side of obsessive perfectionist but of late am forcing myself to accept that as human beings we can not do anything perfectly. Practice makes consistent and/or permanent, not perfect
To strive for absoute perfection is fine, as long as you can acknowledge there will be tiny blemishes, dings and minor imperfections beyond your control
Now ya have to remember this is mostly aimed at scale modeling, but also holds true for plain old model finishing to some degree. Include No detail smaller than your largest blemish is the general rule of thumb. This gets very hairy on Micro Scale models, the reason for my obsession
I simple can no longer build a model and leave wood grain on any surface on matter how large or small the model. body tube spirials are another thing that just can't be overlooked. a bit of a ragged stripping line where the Parafilm-M or masking may not have been as precise as thought..well now I can just go fly it
Fins slightly misaligned on a sport model...OK who's really going to notice?
I'd say build/finish your models to your own liking, but make your launch gear nifty, neat and good looking. Afterall, the model will be in the air, or at least 15' away, but while your out retrieving it.. your Launch equipment is standing there alone representing our hobby
silly words to consider.