I too came from the plamo world and slowly switched to paper mainly due to the lack of availability of certain models. When I was building up a small collection of my favourite scifi ships I was sorely missing a Buck Rogers Thunderfighter. When I was exploring the (then) new internet I accidentally found the papercraft by Martin Saenger which was the first paper model I built in years. This experience changed my life. I never saw paper models as "second class models" but this particular one opened my eyes and showed me what you were able to do with paper. Before the TF I never thought it was possible to make something like this from just a few sheets with flattened out printed parts. The possibilities are truly endless and raise and fall only with the imagination and creativity of the designer.
I started to look for other models of the same quality and quickly found the Lower Hudson Valley gift shop with its great Real Space models. Then, a few weeks later I found Zealot and joined, mainly due to the "Jay's Galactica is lonely" thread started by the great team around nothing and Steve who were producing BSG models in some sort of a pipeline. I was amazed by their work and thought about giving something back to the community. So I started to make paper models myself with the Landram being the number one (albeit it was not the first one I released
).
Recently plastic models have become very expensive which makes me think twice before buying a new one. The latest ones I got were the Revell Slave I (because it has a better surface texture than the old mpc model which I also have and which I intend to use to practise scribing, weathering etc.
) and the Revell Razor Crest (you need at least one model with a toilet inside; OK, I admit, the coffee mug was the selling point for me to get the Hasbro Imperial Hover Tank
). Space is also an issue. Paper model plans only require some MBs on your hard drive. If you build one and run out of space you can always pass it on to someone else without regrets. And if you get more space later you can always rebuild the model, often will the result even be better than your first attempt because of the knowledge you obtained from building it in the first place.
One of the biggest advantages of paper models is that you can easily print and make as many models as you wish. Fixing a broken part is easy: Just print another part and attach. Then you are finally freed from exotic scaling. If you need a model in 1/72 but it is only available in 1/88 in plastic just find a paper template and print it at the desired scale. And you don't need to rig up a paint station because the papercraft already comes with a colourful texture. Of course you may recolour it in the PC or paint the finished model afterwards to make it look more authentic, it is all up to you.
