lol. I'm not sure what scale they were - probably 1/24 - but I've had a Stuka and a Messerschmitt when I was younger (but working age - you just couldn't afford that kind of model if you weren't working and my mum and dad couldn't) and from what I remember I never finished either of those.
You tend to think the bigger they are the easier they are to build - and that's true in part, at least from a "fiddly bits" perspective - but they have such detail your painting has to be exceptional and you need to have considerable staying power.
I think I've found a balance with 1:48 for aircraft and 1:35 for AFV's. My fingers are too big and my eyesight is too bad for 1:72 now.