From the viewpoint of an old man who has been building models (airplanes and ships) most of his life, I think the younger builders tend to require a lot more instruction and preparation and want the finished result without a lengthy build period and without having to learn a whole lot. We older fellows cut our teeth when we were kids on the 10 cent model airplanes that were amazingly difficult to build and we expected to spend many days building one. We quickly learned that we needed more information, so off to the library we went and
read books about model airplanes. Then along came the plastic models, and we could
glue one together in a few hours. Today most of the model airplanes are bought already built, pretty much ready to fly. People don't enjoy the building
part anymore, it is more an instant gratification thing.
I think the same thing is basically true of ship models, although I did not start modeling ships until later in life. I still expected to have to learn a lot, I expected to read a lot of books and magazines and I expected to spend a lot of time putting one together properly. So I am content with a
kit that has sparse instructions. Not to say that I prefer that however. When I look at one of the Model Expo kits, for example, I am amazed at how much information is presented in the instructions, and how nice it is that the parts are all laser cut and ready to install. But even with this prefabrication and information, I still expect to have to learn a lot on my own and to do a lot on my own.
If I did not expect to put some learning time into the hobby, then yes, I would say kits need more instruction. Are today's modelers too lazy to learn? No, I think that they just have different expectations. Some are too lazy, yes, but this is always true. Most just grew up with faster gratification and less learning needed and expect it to be that way. It is a cultural thing.
