A couple of things have come up recently in this thread that I'd like to throw in my two cents' worth about.
There have in fact been three "full-size" Hollywood replicas of the Bounty. The one in the 1936 movie with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable was heavily modified from an old schooner; it looked quite impressive in the distance shots, but the closer views made it clear that, in comparison with the Admiralty draughts, much of the deck furniture was wrong. MGM published a set of plans, intended for model builders; I bought a set many years ago through Bluejacket. In terms of historical accuracy they're just about worthless.
The 1950s version, for the movie with Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard, was built from the keel up in Nova Scotia, with a great deal of publicity. (I have a DVD of the movie; it includes a short subject about the replica ship, which, if I remember right, made a cruise along both U.S. coasts promoting the movie.) It's turned up in several other movies, including the Charlton Heston version of Treasure Island and, I think, at least one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" flicks. It was built more-or-less to the lines shown in the Admiralty draughts, but about twenty feet longer than the original (to accommodate the Cinemascope cameras and Mr. Brando's ego). I think it may still be afloat; the last I heard of it was when my parents went on board it in Florida - but, come to think of it, that was about thirty years ago. Like the 1936 version, it looks really impressive from a distance but lots of the details are inaccurate - including almost every piece of gear on the main deck. And for some reason or other the hull is painted blue. There's no historical justification for that (though I can't prove the original wasn't painted blue), but lots of drawings, models, and paintings made after that movie came out have had blue hulls.
For the Anthony Hopkins/Mel Gibson movie (which I believe was released in 1984), the producers built yet another replica. This time they stuck pretty close to reality (and gave it a sensible color scheme) - but they used the wrong plans. (As I explained in the thread for which I provided a link earlier in this one, there are two sets of Admiralty draughts for the Bounty. One shows her in, apparently, the configuration she was in when the Royal Navy bought her; the other shows the modifications that were made before she sailed for the Pacific. There are quite a few differences, some of them - e.g., the little deckhouse on the quarterdeck - being pretty conspicuous. The replica ship seems to have been based on the first draught. Strong hint: in one scene Anthony Hopkins is sitting in his cabin with a copy of the first draught hanging on a bulkhead behind him.) Nonetheless, of the three replicas this is by far the most realistic. As I understand it, it was built to a tight budget with the understanding that it wasn't expected to last long. It did turn up in at least one other film - the TBS mini-series about Captain Cook. I have no idea where it is now, if anywhere. The last I heard of it was a long time ago when I was in San Diego. There was an item in the local paper to the effect that the ship had tied up in the harbor but had been seized by the DEA, due to evidence that there were illegal drugs on board. I didn't hear anything more about that.
All three movies pretty conspicuously made use of models in some scenes - when the ship was rounding Cape Horn (though the first film didn't show that), and when she was run aground and burned on Pitcairn Island. But most of the shots are of real ships.
Regarding scratchbuilding vs. kits - I've done both, and I can't argue with anybody who claims there's more satisfaction (and, obviously, a far broader choice of subject matter) in scratchbuilding. But there are plenty of perfectly legitimate reasons to work from kits. Scratchbuilding, if you want to do it to a high standard, requires quite an investment in tools, and it takes up a considerable amount of space. I am, at the moment, a case in point. I've got a detached workshop in the back yard; it contains a full-sized table saw and a miniature one, a band saw, a drill press, a Unimat lathe, a couple of handheld motor tools, two routers, a miter saw, a power sander, four hand planes of various sizes, and hundreds of dollars worth of other hand tools that I've collected over many years. I had some physical problems last year, and for the time being I physically can't get to the workshop. I'm a year or two away from retirement, and having much more time available; I want to build at least one more model from scratch in my life - and preferably more. I hope this coming summer I can work out a way to get my little "disability scooter" out there. (The back yard is still an obstacle course, due to Hurricane Irene.) But for the time being I have to confine myself to kits that I can build with basic tools in the house. (My wife has strong opinions on the subject.) People who live in apartments, or small houses, have similar problems; kits are what make it possible for them to be in the hobby.
Another consideration: a good kit (emphasis on good) contains parts of a quality that a scratchbuilder just can't compete with. The process of injection-molding plastic is capable of producing much finer details than the human hand can. (If you don't believe it, take a close look at an old LP record.) The very best plastic kits have detail that people like Harold Hahn and Donald McNarry can't beat - let alone the likes of me. (Take a look at the human figures in the old Revell Bounty. Pay particular attention to the shoe buckles and the upper and lower eyelids - on 1/110 scale.)
A good "halfway" position is the wood kit. There's a considerably wider range of ships available in wood than in plastic (including at least two British revenue cutters that I can think of off the top of my head, from Amati and Calder/Jotika). In a good wood kit the heavy-duty work has been done for you; the amount of sawdust you have to generate is minimal, and you've probably got most of the necessary tools already. A lot of wood kits (the HECEPOBS) aren't worth building, but there are quite a few excellent ones out there - probably enough to keep you busy for the rest of your life. If you stick with Bluejacket, Model Shipways, Calder/Jotika, and the more recent offerings from Amati, you're pretty safe. But if you prefer plastic kits instead, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. To each his/her own.
Sorry to be so long-winded. My wife is gone for today, and the alternative to typing this was to read an MA thesis draft that I really don't want to read.