Small Scale Military Headquarters

FOV has recently released what I consider some fine examples of 1:700 scale model ships. I finally bit the bullet and got the Tirpitz and the Yamato to add to my growing 1:700 scale navy. They are a bit expensive, but there is a ton of detail and a lot of moving parts for a model of this size. I thought the Tirpitz was particularly well done, right down to the 5in gun turrets and cranes being able to rotate. Mine have good paint applications and I feel they were worth the purchase. The FOV ships are remarkably similar to the older Gearbox Toys ships (of which I have several), though perhaps a bit more finely detailed in some respects. Gearbox has the greater variety of vessels and has more diecast in their construction. I'm curious to see if Unimax expands this line in a similar fashion to include other types, particularly aircraft carriers, destroyers, and crusiers. Guess time and interest will tell.

What are everyone else's thoughts on the FOV and other pre-built ships in this scale?

Pics please?

I have seen pics of the FoV 1/700 ships on some dealer sites.

For me, I would prefer a larger model[ 1/350], with more detail. Bismarck, Tirpitz etc are only a little over a foot long. But they are a good 'entry" level models, and are cheaply priced.

Different strokes I guess.

I think 1/700 is a great scale for ships.
Excellent detail and not too too big to wargame.
i/1200 is terrific but the detail is not good enough for my old, rheumy eyes.

well the big question is: do they float in the bathtub?

any word on how well these are selling? I'm sorta interested but if prebuilt 1/700's are going to die i probably won't jump in. I see Easy Model has a scad of submarines, quality unknown. Gearbox has 4 non redundant ships (new jersey and missouri are covered by unimax). That's all i know of in the prebuilt arena.

I have looked at these they don't seem too bad, just not sure I need another scale to collect

aferguson wrote:any word on how well these are selling? I'm sorta interested but if prebuilt 1/700's are going to die i probably won't jump in. I see Easy Model has a scad of submarines, quality unknown. Gearbox has 4 non redundant ships (new jersey and missouri are covered by unimax). That's all i know of in the prebuilt arena.

The first wave of the FOV ships must have sold well enough as Unimax did a second repaint run of the Missouri (in atlantic colors) and the Yamato and added a new tooling, the Tirpitz. I can easily see them repainting the Tirpitz into the Bizmark at some point - their 1:1000 version was just too tiny.

I'm not even sure how many 1:700 scale subs and variants MRC has made, though those are pretty nice as well and easy on the wallet. These must have done well as MRC has expanded their sub line with a new line of 1:350 scale subs, including a US, Russian, and British sub.

thanks for the info, Tman. I'm not sure if i can get into 1/700's. To me, they have the same shock and awe effect as 1/72 tanks....which is to say none.

If there were 1/350 prebuilt ships, i'd probably go for those for sure. The 1/700's i'll have to mull still. Those 1/350 easy model subs look pretty cool. I may fetch a couple of them. Surprising no wwii types, not yet at least.