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.

Book Author(s)
Robbie Shaw
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$39.95

Few aircraft have served for as long and amongst many Western nations than the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II. It’s first flight was 27 May 1958, and three air forces are still flying this “most charismatic” aircraft. Initially developed as a long-range all-weather fighter for the US Navy (USN). The US Air Force (USAF) “Quickly realized that the Navy had an aircraft that could fly faster, further, and carry a larger weapons load than any tactical aircraft in the U.S.A.F. inventory. Over the next decades, several Phantom variants served with distinction and worldwide not just for the Air Force and Navy, but also the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.00

Quickboost has provided the Reviewer Corps with a drop-in resin replacement windshield wiper for Hasegawa’s A-4C Skyhawk in 1/48th scale. The sample review came in a plastic bag with cardboard backing. There are no instructions for this set. For the Hasegawa kit, this is a replacement for part A16. There is one 3D printed windshield wiper. The quality is excellent, and true to scale. It is a very petite part when compared to the kit’s. Because of this tiny size, eye magnification assistance (think Opti-Visor) may be needed when handling it. Please note, since this is a resin part, Superglue (CA), school glue (PVA) or another bonding agent will be needed to secure the wiper to the windscreen. This is a nice 3D resin part, and it will give you the correct scale thinness if you want to replace the windshield wiper on your A-4C Skyhawk. I want to thank Aires and Quickboost for providing the resin part and IPMS/USA for allowing me the opportunity to review.

Book Author(s)
Justo Miranda
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Fonthill Media

This book contains 304 pages, 252 B&W and 28 color illustrations. It covers the development and use of rocket interceptors during WWII and the immediate post-war years. The book is broken down into 26 sections; many are only a single page. With most sections dedicated to those conceptual and built rocket interceptors of the Third Reich! In addition, American, Japanese, and Russian designs are covered.

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$28.00

This is part of a series of books by Kagero on warships and I have a few of these and are truly indispensable when building a model of the subject matter. This book goings into detail via illustrations of the HMS Vanguard – the last of the British Navies battleships entering service in 1946. It served for 14 years before being scrapped in 1960. The book is lavishly illustrated and shows every aspect of the ship in detail. The book also comes with two large scale, fold out poster size ship outline drawings in 1/400 scale The illustrations give so much details as one could wish for as a modeler or history buff.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Thank you to IPMS/USA and Kagero for allowing me to review this great book.