After Superior acquired the material, they discarded many of the poorer quality items. They also replaced many Comets with Framburg copies. Framburg ceased producing models after the war, and when asked if they would sell their moulds or allow their models to be copied Framburg indicated that they no longer had the moulds and that they didn't care if Superior copied the models. I can't imagine that happening these days. After the war, Framburg returned to their core business of making lighting equipment. They are still in business today, but there is no institutional memory there of what they did during the war.
Anyway, Superior initially sold original Comets from their inventory under the Superior label. But soon they started producing their own copies, gradually making changes. Typically this included adding anchor chains, boats, rafts and anti-aircraft guns. Early copies still had the names engraved on the starboard sides. This too disappeared over time. Originally twin secondary guns were separate, as had been the case with Comets and Framburgs, but at some point in the late 60's or early 70's castings were done with the barrels connected, a definite reduction in quality.
Alnavco was started by one of the collectors, Pete Paschal in the early 60's to market the models. Eventually Alnavco took over Superior and became it's sole owner. It's unlikely that anyone, other than Pete himself, can say how many different iterations of a particular model have been made.
As for variations, by Neptun, there are a relative few. Some changes were made when moulds wore out and had to be redone. A good example is the ARIZONA model which was originally produced in a late 1930's rig, but subsequently recast circa 1941 with the birdbath on the mainmast etc. Both models are excellent and worth having.
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