Revell vs Tamiya BB 63

Tamiya Pro: Decent detail, good base

Revell Pro: cheaper

Revell Con: crude, icky.

http://www.quuxuum.org/rajens_list/shiprevs.html#RevellBiggerMo

I worked on one 15-20 years ago and remember sink marks in the hull, etc. Tamiya's is dated, but is better.

Awesone Thanks for the details and link, just what I was looking for!

Sumter- neat avatar. Explain?

Tamiya makes all around superior kits so if it's in your price range do it.

I personally don't much like battleships because the models take a very long time to put together.

Buy the Dragon Laffey to keep your interests up while the battleship gets tedious.

Wife says I make the best chicken so I always said it was the power of the force...ha

I was curious about the kits, having seen the Tamiya kit before but not the Revell.  Oh I know about BB builds, been working on a Bismark for a few months now between other projects.

sumter III

Wife says I make the best chicken so I always said it was the power of the force...ha

I was curious about the kits, having seen the Tamiya kit before but not the Revell.  Oh I know about BB builds, been working on a Bismarck for a few months now between other projects.

I hope that it is the Revell Bismarck. If Revell sell enough of the Bismarck, they may see the business case to invest in a new tooled Iowa class too. And we need one badly.

I saw an old Revell BB-63 Missouri at a local hobby show 3 weeks ago. The seller only asked for $25. But I am not buying another battleship kit unless it is up to the standard set by the newly tooled Revell Bismarck or the Dragon Smart Kit series of destroyers.

I also hope that Hasegawa or Trumpeter will not beat Revell or Dragon to a new Iowa class. Theirs will be way overpriced.

I don't think you need to worry about that' they cater to the japanese market and I don't know how many are interested in the ship their country surrendered on. The Gambier Bay from Hasegawa made sense, because, well, they sunk it!

Good point Tracy, and yes I have the Revell kit and love it.  I too hope Revell will produce more of these level of kits.  I said before on another site that I wish the base price for most BB kits to be in the $100.00 range.  If Revell can do it I see no reason whay others can't.  Oh I know shipping cost and such but I'm still hoping to see the price at one bill rather than 2 or 3 before any PE or paint. and shipping   I think I have about 450.00 in my Revell kit so far.  If this has been a Nagato or Fuso I would be will in at 600.00 or more by now.

sumter III

Good point Tracy, and yes I have the Revell kit and love it.  I too hope Revell will produce more of these level of kits.  I said before on another site that I wish the base price for most BB kits to be in the $100.00 range.  If Revell can do it I see no reason whay others can't. 

Tamiya can do that too and without any new tooling. They put the old 1:350 BB-63 etc. in a new box with a new kit number and double the MSRP. There is no way I will buy another Tamiya BB kit.

There's rumors that they're working on a new-tool Yamato, and if they do that I bet you it'll quadruple the price in the US.

Tracy White

There's rumors that they're working on a new-tool Yamato, and if they do that I bet you it'll quadruple the price in the US.

I will not object to paying the price of a Dragon Premium Edition ship kit if I find a subject that interested me.

I bought a Trumpeter 1:200 scale Sovremenny destroyer kit for $45 a few years back and thought that was an excellent deal. Recently, I paid $99 for the Revell 1:144 Fletcher and like the kit a lot too.

Price is not everything. When I decided to get a German destroyer kit and compared the preview of the Trumpeter Z-25 vs. the Dragon Z-39, I chose the more expensive Dragon kit. Partially because of the trust in the quality of the Smart Kit Series ships that I had before. I also paid a premium for a 1:700 Trumpeter CVN-69 Eisenhower kit after I compared it to the 1:720 and 1:800 kits others offer. The others cannot touch the Trumpeter kit in quality, but it is almost 4 times more in price.

It is still a competitive market out there that I do not have to pay the outrageous prices that the Tamiya and Trumpeter charge for their old or average quality kits today. (Trumpeter tripled the Sovremenny kit price too.)

The Revell kit is IMHO unbuildable. I have only looked at it in the box, and it wasn't very inviting...

But the Tamiya kit is also flawed. Almost everything needs to be repositioned about 6mm (1/4 inch) astern if I remember correctly. After being informed about it, I checked it against some plans I had, and it seemed to be as I was told. Might seem a small misstake, but the more you look, the more it shows.

I don't have the Tamiya kit, but like has been said before, the T's make a better overall product.  I do have the Revell USS New Jersey in 1/350th.  Not a bad kit for the price ( think I paid $56).  I invested in a lot of photo etch for this one and it will need a lot of work if you want to make it a show piece.  It would be a great large scale beginner kit.

As far as Tamiya BB 63 being flawed I dare say that is a norm for all kits.  I have yet to find a kit that has not had a few mistakes.  However unless someone comes out with a better product or a person wants to build from scratch there is little choice but accept and contend.

If you don’t mind what plan set are you working from?

Thanks

I checked against a couple of sets. The Floating Drydock Missouri set, and a couple of other Iowa class ship plans available from www.hnsa.org.

Of corse all models are flawed. There will always be compromise. But the dimensional errors on the  350 Iowa ships feels unnecessary, when the originals are still around.

keilau

I saw an old Revell BB-63 Missouri at a local hobby show 3 weeks ago. The seller only asked for $25...

Smart to pass on that one.  If it was the venerable Revell Missouri, going back to their early generation of ship kits, you can find one much cheaper, on eBay for example, or elsewhere on the secondary market.  That seller was asking a price more for kit collectors than modelers.

Though, when we look at our stashes, shouldn't we really admit that we're kit collectors, too? 

the Baron

keilau:

I saw an old Revell BB-63 Missouri at a local hobby show 3 weeks ago. The seller only asked for $25...

 

Smart to pass on that one.  If it was the venerable Revell Missouri, going back to their early generation of ship kits, you can find one much cheaper, on eBay for example, or elsewhere on the secondary market.  That seller was asking a price more for kit collectors than modelers.

Though, when we look at our stashes, shouldn't we really admit that we're kit collectors, too? 

No, it was the much later (80ish) Revell 1:350 Iowa class battleship kit. For anyone who wants it, $25 is a steal. This one also has very bad reputation as a poor fitting kit. But it is possible (not easy) to build into a good looking model with the Eduard PE set.

BTW, I built the Revell 1:535 Missouri kit when I was in high school (late 50 or early 60). It was the pride of my collection for many years.

Manufacturers came out with a lot of new 1/350 scale ships but has kept away from a new Missouri kit while AMs like Lionroar has a fantastic detail set for it. I would like to build a new Big Mo but I do not want to be cutting off those molded ladders again (MiniHobby's Arizona too). I would like to see a Missouri with a quality of the new Dragon ships.

keilau

the Baron:

keilau:

I saw an old Revell BB-63 Missouri at a local hobby show 3 weeks ago. The seller only asked for $25...

 

Smart to pass on that one.  If it was the venerable Revell Missouri, going back to their early generation of ship kits, you can find one much cheaper, on eBay for example, or elsewhere on the secondary market.  That seller was asking a price more for kit collectors than modelers.

Though, when we look at our stashes, shouldn't we really admit that we're kit collectors, too? 

 

No, it was the much later (80ish) Revell 1:350 Iowa class battleship kit. For anyone who wants it, $25 is a steal. This one also has very bad reputation as a poor fitting kit. But it is possible (not easy) to build into a good looking model with the Eduard PE set.

BTW, I built the Revell 1:535 Missouri kit when I was in high school (late 50 or early 60). It was the pride of my collection for many years.

Thanks for clarifying!  I agree, then, for that kit, that's a good price.

I built the old one, too, but in it's New Jersey boxing.  I loved all of the Revell ships that I built, from the older 1/720's to the Yorktowns

constructor

I would like to see a Missouri with a quality of the new Dragon ships.

Totally agree!

Greetings all. Glad to see this thread highlighting the kit differences. I was curious if all (or any) of the 1/350 Iowa PE sets out there are suitable for the Otaki / Revell 1/350 New Jersey?

I've got the old Otaki version of the BB-62 and despite what the box art depicts as a post-war or modern iteration with bow mounted Discone antenna, it appears to build into a June 1945 version with enlarged mast on the after stack and SC-1 Seahawk floatplanes (and with all AA guns intact). Hopefully there's no serious dimensional differences in GMM, Eduard or White Ensign PE that were intended for the Tamiya kits that would prevent, say, the 40mm gun tub ammo racks from working on the Otaki kit? I'm very interested in a PE set that offers bridge windows, for one.

Thanks.