Painted Front

Tank Crew of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Finished

F-35A Lightning II

Finished Model - Bridge Closeup

U.S.S. Long Beach CGN-9 1980

Right front

Long Range Desert Group Patrol Car with 2cm Cannon

Front

ME-109G-5

Masking for Canopy

Do 217M-1 WWII German Bomber

KI-61 finished model

Kawasaki Ki61-1 & Ki100-1 & Metal Figure Limited Edition

Completed Model - Side

'70 Ford Torino GT 2 'n 1

Radio compartment detail

Sexton II 25-pdr SP Tracked

Wheel Well Subassembly

F-14A Tomcat, VF-111 Sundowners, "Miss Molly"

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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 the IPMS/USA First Vice President.

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

Contents Package cover

Wooden Epoxy Stands
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
UMM-USA
Scale
N/A
MSRP
$18.95

UMM-USA has provided four versions of their Wooden Epoxy Stands:

  • JH-S04 Wooden Epoxy Stand Durafix 12 & 180 Minutes
  • JH-S05 Wooden Epoxy Stand BSI 5 & 10 Minutes
  • JH-S06 Wooden Epoxy Stand BSI 20 & 30 Minutes
  • JH-S07 Wooden Epoxy Stand BSI 15 & 130 Minutes

The stands are packaged unassembled; they are made up of 7 wooden pre-cut parts that slot together. They can be glued with either CA or White Glue. The instructions are printed on the packaging and are very straightforward.

These are very useful when using Epoxy’s and help to keep them organized.

The front and top parts have engravings showing the information for each epoxy.

In conclusion these are handy for your work benches.

Thanks go to UMM-USA for providing this kit to review and IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it for them.

Book Cover

Hungarian Bomber Colours 1927-1945, Volume 1
Book Author(s)
Dénes Bernád , György Punka
illustrator: Balázs Kakuk
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$50.00

MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly”, a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999 with Stratus, and since then they have built up a list of hard cover and soft cover titles on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. Stratus / MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications. Check out their Facebook page for additional information. This English language book, Hungarian Bomber Colours 1927-1945 Vol. 1. is authored by Dénes Bernád and György Punka.

package cover

Engine Cowlings and Cooling Flaps for B-25H-J
Review Author
Chris Surber
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$29.00

Hasegawa first released their 1/72 B-25J in 2003 and followed up thereafter with a

B-25H, both released in various boxing’s since. This welcomed kit is likely the most accurate in this scale and yet it benefits from aftermarket details. Quickboost manufacture a closed cooling flap and open cooling flap version of the cowlings. This review focuses on the open cooling flap version. Since Eduard chose to release some limited edition 1/72 B-25s with interesting decal options, precut masks and photo etch details, these replacement cowlings will fit their 1/72 Angel of Mercy, Guns Bunny and Strafer kits.

In the Box

Cowling parts in pairs, consisting of cowls, cooling flap rings, carb intake scoops and mounting lugs, all indexed to fit exactly with the kit engine nacelles.

Cover

Wessex HAS.3 Top Engine Cooling Grille
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.00

The Westland Wessex was a British license-built version of the Sikorsky H-34 and in it’s HAS.3 anti-submarine version, was a capable hunter/killer and saw combat in the Falklands War, where one machine nicknamed ‘Humphrey’ seriously damaged the Argentine submarine Santa Fe, which subsequently had to be scuttled, and also rescued SAS troops from a glacier in bad weather after their helicopters had crashed.

Italeri’s Wessex HAS.3 kit was released in 2013 and is a very nice kit, though it has a few issues and is lacking finesse in some areas. One such area is the mesh cover for the gearbox compartment. This compartment sits atop the Wessex’s distinctive ‘humpback,’ just under the rotor and rotor head. Quickboost labels this as an ‘engine grille,’ though as the Wessex’s engines are housed in the nose, this seems a little unlikely!

Package

Wessex HU.5 Debris Mesh
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$28.00

The Westland Wessex HU.5 was a British commando/utility helicopter upgraded from the Sikorsky H-34. They were also used by the Royal Navy for SAR work and I was lucky enough to spend a week with our local SAR Flight at HMS Daedalus back in 1981 as part of a work experience programme. I was taken for a number of flights including one where I played the part of a ‘survivor’, being winched up and down from the cabin. Fun times!

Italeri released their 1/48 Wessex HU.5 in 2012 and it is a fine kit, though not without a few issues. Aires’ Quickboost brand has a number of improvement sets for the kit, including this new 3D printed one. The nose of the Wessex 5 has a large and very distinctive debris guard over the nose air intake. In the kit, this is represented by a two-part construct which traps a piece of provided plastic mesh. This looks OK when made, but cries out for a finer, better solution.