VSS does make a world of difference.  The current version comes with a skin shader template already built-in.  However, it's flexibility comes into play when you create new shaders, use a different set of shaders, or want to apply the same shaders to multiple models at the touch of a button.  For example, if I wanted to apply the same shader node arrangement for both your V4 and alien models in the scene, I would introduce the VSSProp, make whatever necessary changes to the shader templates, and click a button.  Instantly, each model would have it's old shaders replaced with the VSS template shaders, saving you plenty of time to compose and render your scene.