Hey guys, are we maybe laying it on a bit thick?
I can completely appreciate the honesty here- but I think we might be carrying the 'constructive criticism' idea a bit far. Few of us produce 'perfect' models- or even build consistently at a level that we ourselves are satisfied with. But think for a moment- what would be useful for you?
There are useful ways to constructively criticise. If you're following a build thread and point out "hey, there's some orange peel there, this is how I often deal with it", that can be helpful. Looking at a completed build and saying "your painting skills suck", or "your painting skills could be better", or even "strip it and repaint it" isn't really helpful. Skills like painting develop only by practice- it's only by doing less than perfect bodies that allows us to learn how to do better. I expect we all know that the builder of a model is much more aware of the build shortcomings than anyone who just sees four pics of it. Few of us then really need to be told "hey, you're not there yet". You're being invited to view someone's learning processes. Most people post completed builds when they feel they are done- that they have taken a build as far as they can, and have done the best that they can with it. There's nothing at all wrong with giving suggestions while a build is underway. But if what you see completed is as good as the builder thinks he/she can do, do you really need to tell them "It could be better"?