A Brief History
USS South Dakota (BB-57) was the lead vessel of the four South Dakota-class fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1930s. She was made famous as “Battleship X” and for her AA performance at the Battle of Santa Cruz.

South Dakota saw extensive action during World War II; immediately upon entering service in mid-1942, she was sent to the south Pacific to reinforce Allied forces waging the Guadalcanal campaign. The ship was damaged in an accidental grounding on an uncharted reef, but after completing repairs she returned to the front, taking part in the Battle of Santa Cruz in October and the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November. During the latter action, electrical failures hampered the ability of the ship to engage Japanese warships and she became the target of numerous Japanese vessels, sustaining over two-dozen hits that significantly damaged her superstructure but did not seriously threaten her buoyancy. South Dakota returned to the United States for repairs that lasted into 1943, after which she was briefly deployed to strengthen the British Home Fleet, tasked with protecting convoys to the Soviet Union.

In mid-1943, the ship was transferred back to the Pacific, where she primarily operated with the fast carrier task force, contributing her heavy anti-aircraft armament to its defense. In this capacity, she took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in late 1943 and early 1944, the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign in mid-1944, and the Philippines campaign later that year. In 1945, she participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and bombarded Japan three times. Following the end of the war in August 1945, she took part in the initial occupation of the country before returning to the United States in September. She later moved to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where she was laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until 1962, when she was sold for scrap

Vee Hobby of China is a new player in the 1/700 Injected Plastic arena, their initial offerings are the USS Missouri BB-63 and this kit the South Dakota BB-57. They offer the subject kits in at least 3 editions, Basic, Deluxe (subject of this review) and Platinum. Basic appears to be just Injected with some minimal PE and the Platinum has everything in this box and more including masks and additional PE. This kit like all kits of the South Dakota portrays the ship after her 1943 repairs and upgrades, specifically this kit is 6/1944 or as she was at the Battle of the Philippine Sea.  A lot of sprues and parts come in this box. The sprue breakdown is as follows (There are no sprues E, F, H, I, K, L, O, Q, R, V, X, Y and Z):

 This brings me to what I was afraid of after seeing the first renders for this kit a year ago. Much like the classic Hasegawa kit, the bow is too narrow. Here is my primitive photo-shopping skills, laid over the plans for the Indiana. All details are in the right place, just the bow continues to taper towards the stem instead of flaring out again. While some of this is alleviated by the way the hull sides mate with the deck, it still lacks that characteristic broad bow of this class.

Sheet B contains Railings, ladders, Anchor tread plate and boat details. 

Sheet C contains 20MM guns & shields, 40MM rails & shields and superstructure details.

The Deluxe Instructions are a double-sided sheet with color pictures. The are also clear and will help in placement of the enhanced PE.

Although I am eager for new subjects in Injection Plastic, I understand the importance of supporting a newcomer. If Vee Hobby takes reviews like this to heart, they have an opportunity to improve and be a good contender with some hopefully new and untapped kit subjects in the future. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being best, I would give this kit a 7 ½. There are some things that could be better, but with exception of the bow shape, the kit shows good attention to being accurate and a good base for upgrading to the modelers taste.

I purchased this kit for $65 off of eBay.