Welcome to IPMS/USA Reviews

Introduction: The primary organization of the IPMS/USA Review website is by IPMS/USA National Contest Class. Within each Class there are sub-menus by kits, decals, books, etc. The Miscellaneous Class is for items that are not class specific or that cross two or more classes.

IPMS/USA Members: We encourage you to submit reviews, both here and to the Journal. To volunteer for membership in the IPMS/USA "Reviewers Corps" and submit your own reviews, please read the Guidelines For Submitting Product Reviews.

Manufacturers, publishers, and other industry members: IPMS/USA is pleased to offer your company the opportunity for product reviews. All product reviews are performed by IPMS/USA members, and are posted in the publicly-accessible section of our website. With very few exceptions, we perform full build reviews of new kit releases, aftermarket products, and supplies. If you would care to provide product samples for review, please contact John Noack, IPMS/USA 1st VP.

To learn more about IPMS/USA, please see our About Us page.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Reskit
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$15.40

Founded a little more than 10 years ago by modelers, Reskit has set the standard for aftermarket accessories. Reskit’s product line keep expanding exponentially and no end in sight for what they keep offering. The CH-54A (S-64E) Tarhe pilot seats are no exception. The ICM kit seats are extremely basic and almost look more like a lawn chair than an aircraft seat. The real Tarhe seats are not as complex as other helicopters but they do have notable details that need to be represented in a model.

Packaged in a sturdy box, the contents include one 3D printed set of 3 seats (pilots and rear seat) and instructions. The resin print includes a protective structure or cage around the printed parts. There are plenty of print supports and the print detail is extremely fine with build layers barely noticeable.

This video covers an upcoming swap meet and a show that have both been going on for numerous years and always well attended. The swap meet is held in Salisbury, North Carolina and has no contest. The vendors that come to this event have always had odd and rare models, mostly of the automotive kind. The ODO (Old Dominion Open) is an IPMS event that has been hosted by the Richmond IPMS for several years now and has always been a great kick off to model shows on the east coast. There are usually five or six hundred models in the contest as well as numerous great vendors.

Book Author(s)
Dmitry Zubkov
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

Helion is a UK-based company that produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through the present day. Helion was established in 1996 by University of Warwick graduate Duncan Rogers. Since then, they have published over 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year for readers around the world.

Dmitry Zubkov from Russia, a banker with 25 years of experience, has a lifelong interest in the subject of military history and has written several books and articles in Russian on a variety of related subjects. His area of interest is the little-studied issue of Soviet arms exports during the Cold War, especially warships. His studies of little-known details of the warships’ careers, the warships’ influence on the buildup of the recipient navies, and the experiences of their crews.

Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$89.99

Manufactured by ICM, who are based in Ukraine, this is a bonus boxing of two previously released kits: the AC-40-137, which is based on the Zil 131 truck chassis, and the AR-2 that is based on the KAMAZ-43105 chassis. As ICM does from time to time, they will box kits together to create a new boxed set that is thematically similar. The AC-40-137 has seven sprues for a total of 295 parts and an additional one for clear parts. The AR-2 also has seven sprues, but with a total of 330 parts, including three sprues for clear parts. Each vehicle has a couple of color profiles to choose from that are very similar to one another, basically red and white stripes. The molding is nearly flawless. There is a very small amount of flash on some parts, but nothing that cannot be solved with the quick pass of a hobby knife.