Small Scale Military Headquarters

Fellas I have been considering getting some of those 1/700 scale FoV warships I have seen and I wanted to get someones take on them. Watched a video on youtube of a gentleman that had a fair number of them and he seemed to like them, but I wanted to see if i could get anyone here to give me a rundown of what they are like.

Thinking I will get the Tirpitz and Yamato first if I do decide to get them, just because they were some of the coolest (on paper) battleships of the war, even if they didn't wind up doing a whole helluva lot when it actually came down to fighting.

-Kevin

Pretty tempted myself, especially for the price.

But only so many types and scales of models that I can do. Planes and race cars will have to suffice.

These are great models. A bit pricey, but still, they are well detailed with some functions included like rotating turrets, elevating main guns, rotating cranes, etc. Some neat selections as well from other Allied and Axis navies, such as the Yamato, Bismarck, and HMS Hood among others.

I also have some of the older Gearbox 1:700 ships that were made about 10-12 years ago. The FOV ships are comparable and display well with the older Gearbox models, though the FOV has crisper and finer details (like flags) that the Gearbox models do not. My biggest gripe with the FOV is that only the lower part of the hull (below waterline) is diecast while the upper hull and superstructure are plastic. There is a slight gap between the diecast and plastic parts of the hull, so it doesn't look smooth; the models also feel lighter than they should. The Gearbox models, by comparison, have the hull as one single piece of diecast and are thus heavier and look smoother. The FOV models in general have good paint jobs with accurate colors. The Bismarck, however, has the red and white of the giant Nazi swastikas painted on the deck, but not the swastika itself, which looks a bit tacky. One of these days I'll paint them in...

But still, I like the FOV models. My local Hobbytown USA store has the 1:700 scale USS Enterprise (modern) aircraft carrier in stock for about $90. I've been sorely tempted to get that, though it won't fit with all my other 1:700 scale ships which are from the WWII era.