When I first visited the NMUSAF when I was in Jr. High, I was blown away by the quality of the models in the IPMS display case. But that was when I built kits with no filling or sanding, painted them with a brush, and slapped the decals on right over the flat paint. After got older and gained some skill and experience as a modeler, I began look at models in museums with a much more critical eye. I've seen many models in museum displays that were very crudely built, or had glaring accuracy errors. For the most part, a museum model is just there to illustrate a historical point, or show an aircraft (or variant) that the museum doesn't have. In most cases, a simple, well constructed model will do just fine.
What I'm trying to say is that "museum quality kit" is a meaningless term. Even the most basic kit can be built into a masterpiece, and a really expensive fancy kit can be turned into a pile of crap. Frankly, I'm more impressed by someone who can take a dog of a kit and add a bunch of well done scratchbuilt detail than someone who merely assembles a high-dollar kit.
Case in point: this 1/72 piece won "Best Aircraft" at the 2009 IPMS USA National Convention. Rather than use the newer, snazzier, and far more expensive Hasegawa kit with a buttload of resin and photoetch, the builder started with the venerable Airfix kit, and added all the detail from scratch.
SN
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