Very Fire Iowa Class Battleship Kits

Greetings!! from Puget Sound. About to order a Very Fire Iowa Class Battleship WWII version kit. Several are offered at different prices from different dealers. Other than price they all appear by photo and written description to be the same. Interested to know if there is any difference as to the level of detail in these kits from dealer to dealer and price to price? Also have the same question for the “detail up” sets that are shown at different prices from different dealers. In advance, Thank You! for your responses.

I don’t have a definitive answer. Looking at Scalemates; here’s what they say.

VF 350003 USS Iowa released 2018

VF 350909 USS Missouri released 2018 (new parts)

VF 350910 USS Iowa released 2018 (new parts)

VF 350911 USS New Jersey released 2018 (new parts)

VF 350912 USS Wisconsin released 2018 (new parts)

VF 350900 USS Iowa detail up set released 2019

I would guess that the first kit in the list would probably be cheaper, but not as useful as all of the following ones. In turn, I would guess that those are pretty much the same thing.

I only see one detail-up set from Very Fire. I would guess it works for all four of the latter kits.

If you can determine the kit numbers in sales listings, and if you trust what they say, it might help understand the pricing.

Take a look at Scalemates for this kit and upgrade set. There are literally dozens and dozens of aftermarket products available. Here’s where reading reviews will help you.

Bill

Many!! Thanks Bill. Good clear straightforward advice. Sounds like you’ve had good success with Scalemates.

Scalemates is a data base, not a seller. It is however a pretty reliable site for information about kits and links to related products. Check it out.

When you do your searching for VeryFire Iowa class, take a look at Blue Ridge Models. Their 1/350 Iowa and Montana class kits are a Joint Product between Very Fire and Blue Ridge Models.

The USA retailer for BlueRidge is FreeTime Hobbies.

Take a look here for some price comparisons:

https://freetimehobbies.com/ships/ship-model-kits/?_bc_fsnf=1&Ship+Type=Battleship&brand=413

The BRM kits are the same as the VeryFire and have been coming in a box with the VeryFire kit #. I recommend getting the best price from the most reputable retailer.

Nino

P.S. To see photos of parts of many of Air, Land, and Sea model kits, I use HobbySearch at https://www.1999.co.jp/. They don’t seem to include as good coverage of VF kits but do cover many others quite well.

Try a google search of Veryfire uss Missouri 1999 co

EDIT: On occasion a VERYFIRE member posts answers and comments here:

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=195012&p=784410&hilit=veryfire+missouri#p784410

(Check the June 18, 2019 entry about VF PE sets and wood deck)

You would be well advised to read some of the discussions about AM sets there.

NW,

First off, welcome to the forums. That said, I agree with both Bill and Jim’s advice and information. Scalemates is a great source of information on kits and you’re soung the right thing about asking questions. There is a great deal of experience here and good advice and most of us are “mostly harmless.”

I have always had great experience with Freetime Hobbies and would recommend them if that’s the route you go. One thing to be in mind of when checking pricing, is that if the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I had a recent experience on evilBay where a dealer in China was selling the new 1/350 USS Salem for $19.95 USD and free shipping. I had a hunch that is was too good to be true and I was right. After two months and numerous emails that weren’t responded to, the shop closed up.Thank goodness PayPal had a money back guarantee. You would think that I would know better…

I’m not sure if you’re a new modeler, have years of experience or a returning modeler, but another thing to think about is that Photo-etch in 1/350 can be pretty small but there are plenty of turorials out there to help. I’ve never used Very Fire’s PE but some PE can be VERY fragile and will break by looking sideways at it. If you end up with their PE set, I would love to hear your take on it. Looking forward to seeing a work in progress report with numerous pictures!

Steve