Maybe it's the habit of my professional lifetime: test first, build later. Or maybe it's the frustration factor. For so many years my building time was very limited, and making a materials mistake on a build just added to the frustration. So I took a few minutes to test combinations of coatings on paint hulks and scrap. Building is supposed to be fun, not frustration. That investment of a small amount of precious modeling time saved ENORMOUS amounts of frustration.

We all have to hurry a lot in this society. In scale modeling, if you are in a hurry, it is not a hobby, it's a hassle.