There are three reasons I will use laser cut parts:
- To save my hands when cutting out thick parts.
- cutting out extremely fine details such as railings or lattice work.
- Reducing the monotony of cutting out a large quantity of repetitious parts, such as tank tread parts.
However, I always compare the cost of the laser parts to the cost of the original kit to determine is it makes good economic sense to me. I have a hard time paying more for extras than I paid for the original kit in the first place.
To me, the first and third items above are labor and hand savers and do not affect the true ability of the builder to build a good model. Item two and photoetch part use, though should not and cannot really mask poor building ability (especially if building for a contest). A well built model with no extras almost always beats a superdetailed glue blob any day.
Greg