I agree with you 1000%!! People like "shiny" things, and apparently in the model building world, if its not blindingly shiny, it doesn't get attention. I've been to contests where the winners had finishes that look like they were spit-shined by the U.S Honor Guard, but the detail, craftsmanship were as if someone else had done the assembly process entirely, and not that good in comparison to their polishing. some of these still win-out when they shouldn't. Example: i'm also a competitive bodybuilder. We judge on: size, definition, and symmetry. You have to have a BALANCE of all three to be the winner. At one of my shows in particular, it was down to the last three of us. The guy on my right was bigger than me, but was retaining water, so he didn't have as good definition as I had. The guy to the left of me had the same definition as me, but was considerably smaller than me. I won. Balance. If one guy has a build that shows great attention to detail, executes the work cleanly and believably, but his finish is not as "shiny" as the next guys, who has less detail and not as clean finishing, he should still win. Far too many people focus only on the "gloss" of a model. anybody can Buff a finish out.