The most impresive thing I have discovered through modelling is:
We as modellers are a group of artists that are preserving history through our works. As we research a subject and decide on the final look of a project, we are both preserving history and taking artistic license to convey an emotional responce to that history. Every scratch, dent, and splash of mud gives the viewer a sence of the vehicles place in history. Personaly, when I look at a well painted model, I pick up on what the modeller/artist was trying to convey through the colors used and the details added. This is much the same as viewing conventional artwork/design in any other form or forum.