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Modeling reality

On Thursday, Jan 23, 2003 John Mallinckrodt wrote:

... Successful new theories in physics must at least make
predictions that agree in every case where existing theory
is in agreement with experiment. However, since that
alone confers no advantage, they must also either be
simpler or more beautiful than existing theories and/or
they must make predictions that are at odds with current
theory and in accord with experiment. ...

This is true for a THEORY. But what about a model?
A model, I think, is acceptable even if it is not able to
agree with all known facts. A model is acceptable if
its predictions agree with facts not explainable by
existing theories and models. It is not as good as a
theory but it is better than nothing. I would say that a
model is a hypothesis, not a theory. Right or wrong?
Ludwik Kowalski