Reviews

Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
Company
Gallery Models
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$329.98

The Ship

Launched in April 1943 and commissioned four months later, USS Intrepid (CV-11) participated in numerous actions in the central and western Pacific from early 1944 until the end of the Pacific War, including Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. She was hit twice by kamikazes but was still on station at the end of hostilities. Intrepid underwent modernization twice during the 1950s, which enclosed her bow and gave her an angled flight deck. Reclassified as an Anti-submarine Carrier (CVS-11), Intrepid was the lead ship for the NASA’s Mercury Aurora 7 and the Gemini 3 splashdown recovery. From April 1966 to February 1969, she made three deployments to the waters off Vietnam. She ended her active career back in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, being decommissioned in 1974 with over 30 years of service. In August 1982, Intrepid was reopened as a museum ship in New York harbor.

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$10.06

Model Art Magazine is a monthly magazine that covers aircraft, armor, ships and car modeling. Model Art started releasing magazines in 1966 and has evolved from there over the past forty eight years.

The October issue starts off with several small articles which include the IJA/N Airplane Illustrated and a build article on the Tamiya 1/35 WW1 British Tank Mk. IV Male. This features a beautiful diorama and photos of a Mk. I, Mk II and Mk. IV and a opened up MK. IV.

The main article this month features the IJN Carrier Akagi shown through models in the different configurations of it's career. This article consists of thirty two pages and utilizes several 1/700 scale models and one 1/350 models. Most of the configurations are of the single flight deck, but one model is of the "Three flight deck" version. This aricle consists of multiple color photos and many helpful tips on making the most accurate looking Akagi.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Add On Parts
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.31

These shutters make a very nice diorama accessory and are a nice addition to building windows.

The package includes 10 cast resin parts, 2 pairs each of 5 deferent shutter styles. The styles include two pairs of louvered wood shutters, two pairs of metal shutters, and two pairs each of 3 different wood style shutters. Each set of shutters includes two shutters molded in the closed position, as if closed over a window. All but one of the shutter sets includes center astragals over the joint between the two shutters. The astragal will need to be dealt with if the shutters are cut apart and placed on each side of the window in an open position. The pair of shutters measure 1-3/4” tall by 1-1/16” inch wide, or 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide at 1/35 scale.

Book Author(s)
John F Winkler; Illustrator: Peter Dennis
Review Author
Al LaFleche
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$21.95

In the months before the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Pennsylvania and Virginia had disputing claims over the trans-Appalachian area that would become southern Ohio and Kentucky. This area had been ceded by the French at the end of the French and Indian War, aka the Seven Years War. Of course, the native people, the Shawnee, Mingo, and their allies including members of the Delaware, Miami, Ojibwe, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Potawatomi and Wyandot, also contested the rights to his land.

In time, the colonists allied with each other and sent militias to take the land under the leadership of Virginia’s governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (Lord Dunmore). The regular armies, i.e., the Redcoats did not participate to any great degree in this campaign which culminated in the Battle of Point Pleasant at the convergence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers near present day Charleston, WV.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.95

Ross, you and your company do it again…. Thanks to SAC for developing a metal gear set for this new kit; and thanks to the IPMS leadership for sending it on!

These stronger, metal versions of the kit’s gear, continue the “form/fit/function” replacement mantra. Short-run plastic is a bit soft, so metal gear becomes crucial with the larger kits. In the case of the buckeye, the nose gear is an offset single-arm strut, which makes the metal even more appropriate.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Add On Parts
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.31

The kit includes approximately 325 ceramic tiles prefinished with a light terra-cotta color. The color of the roof tiles is nicely mottled and would be ideally suited for Southern Europe or Mediterranean buildings. The tiles in this sample are much lighter than the illustration on the package.

There are 3 shapes to the tile - the typical field tile, a shorter field tile, and a shape with an extended edge for a roof eave or cap. There are few bubbles in the casting, some chipped edges, and some flash that can easily be chipped off. All these add to the nice texture of the tile. The ceramic material is very fine grained, integrally colored so any chipping will blend in, and can easily be trimmed with a hobby knife or sanding stick. No instructions are provided.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$50.00

Thank you to the wonderful folks at Hasegawa and Hobbico for an excellent kit of one of my favorite USN jets, the A-4 Skyhawk. The kit was a joy to build. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us kits to review.

This re-release from Hasegawa as a “Limited Edition” provides a very nice building experience of a very unique aircraft. I remember sitting in the cockpit of the full-size version feeling like I was in a sports car, marveling at where the panel would detach my lower legs in the event of an ejection. I am very pleased with the results produced and the kit is an excellent value. There are markings options for 2 different Skyhawk aircraft assigned to VA-23 aboard the USS Midway, with options for pylons and wing tanks.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Plusmodel
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.00

If you like to build your planes as they would be just before a flight, one problem has always been to get a decent pilot boarding ladder. Some have come out but have been all photoetch and delicate. Plusmodel to the rescue! They have recently released a series of 1/48th scale boarding ladders for several planes. This one if for a Mig-21 and could be used with either the Eduard or Academy kits and it is INJECTION MOLDED!!!!!

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$10.95

Model Art has published No.7 in the series labeled, “Air Model Special” and this issue focuses on the Ki-61 Hien.

Some 60 pages in this issue are dedicated to coverage a number of different kits of the Ki-61, by a variety of different kit manufacturers, and in multiple scales. The photography is stunning, but then that has long been a feature of Model Art publications. The workmanship displayed in the models is world class and the images provide an excellent resource for detailing, painting, and markings.

This issue, were it to offer nothing more than the excellent article on the Ki-61, would be worth the cost, but it also includes short articles on a number of other subjects.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Zoukei-Mura
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$152.00

Zoukei-Mura is relatively new on the model making front as far as time goes but they have set a new standard for modeling with their philosophy of having the internal detail be included in their planes. They have also chosen extremely desired and interesting subjects and the latest 1/32nd scale offering is a Horten Ho-229 jet- their first jet. The Ho-229 (sometimes called the Go-229) was an all wing aircraft propelled by two jet engines deep in the fuselage. It has somewhat the look of a B-2 Spirit. It was purposely designed to allow for minimal radar detection with 1000kg load of bombs, a 1000 kph top speed and a range of 1000 km. It might have been close to those numbers if mass produced.