Finished - Right Side

HH-34J USAF Combat Rescue

Finished

Texaco Bug US Refueling Vehicle

Assembled and ready to paint

Spitfire Mk. IXc

Finished 7

F-104G Luftwaffe & Bundesmarine Scale: Q

Left view showing appropriate "sag" in tracks.

Panther Ausf. D V2 Versuchsserie

Engine/Exhausts

Saab JA-37 Viggen

AKPz4 Front

Hasegawa Pz.Kpfw IV ausf.F2 & 8t Half Track & 88mm Gun Flak 18 "Rommel Afrika Korps"

Dashboard

FIAT Mefistofele

Decals

’37 Ford Coupe Street Rod

One Heel Finished and one to go

T-800 Terminator, Part 5 - Modifications and Changes

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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.

Package

F-14 B/D Wheel Wells
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Kazan Model Dynamics
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$34.99

The Tamiya 1/48th scale F-14D is a great kit and deserves all its accolades. That being said, with the limitations of molding technology, there is always room for improvement one of those areas is the wheel wells. Theya re good but they myriad of lines and detail is just not possible with plastic injection technology. In comes 3D printing technology and the game changes for aftermarket. Kazan Model Dynamics has released sets in the past adding massive detail and their current catalog includes upgrades to F-16, F-14, P-38, F-4B and other sets. This review covers the landing gear bays and gear doors for the Tamiya F-14B/D. The set includes 17 resin printed 3D parts and a one-page instruction sheet. Printing is good with a few print lines that needed sanded out easily.

Package

Superset Converting the F-14D to A F-14B VF-143 Pukin’Dogs
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
DXM Decals
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$52.00

DXM Double Excellent Model) Is a hobby company out of Taiwan and has been making decals for a while. They have now branched out into conversions also to augment their decals. This set is a conversion of the Tamiya F-14D kit inot an F-14B kit and includes two options, early or late and these sets can also be bought with decals which contain a couple options each. You can get the conversion by itself or with a specific set of decals and they are listed below:

  • DXM-S0002- F-14B Conversion
  • DXM-S0002P1- F-14B Conversion with VF-32 Fighting Swordsmen Decals
  • DXM-S0002P2- F-14B Conversion with VF-143 Pukin’ Dogs
  • DXM-S0002P3- F-14B Conversion with VF-11 Red Rippers
  • DXM-S0002P4- F-14B Conversion with VF-101 Grim Reapers

For this review, we will use the VF-143 set. The conversion involves the following:

Product

Photoetch Bending Handle Set
Review Author
Rick Reinert
Published on
Company
UMM-USA
Scale
N/A
MSRP
$12.96

There are many ways to fold photo etch, using a folder with a safety razor has been the go-to method for me. Not anymore! This tool set is much more ergonomically friendly. I found it much easier to use because it is easy to control, fits in you hand, is easy to manipulate, and keeps the photo etch in place when using it without a jig. \

Available individually ($4.16), or as a set of three for $12.96 at https://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php

Highly Recommended

Many thanks to UMM for providing this product and IPMS/USA for the chance to review it.

Package

Kawasaki Ki-100-I Otsu Type 5 Fighter (Part 3, Completed Build)
Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Zoukei-Mura
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$124.00

Zoukei-Mura has graciously provided the IPMS Reviewer Corps with a first look at their brand new 1/32nd scale Kawasaki Ki-100-I Otsu Type 5 Fighter. Parts 1 and 2 of this review looked at the box contents and initial assembly, respectively.

Part 1 can be viewed here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/kawasaki-ki-100-i-otsu-type-5-fighter-part-1-kit-inspection

Part 2 can be viewed here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/kawasaki-ki-100-i-otsu-type-5-fighter-part-2-assembly

Final Assembly Process

This is a box stock build with no aftermarket add-ons or modifications.

Cover

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale: Cold War Angolan Finale, 1987-1988
Book Author(s)
Leopold Scholz
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$39.95

The late Dr Leopold Scholtz was a senior journalist, political commentator and a highly regarded military expert. He was deputy editor of Die Burger until 2007 and was the European correspondent for Media24's Afrikaans dailies. Scholtz obtained his doctor's degree from the University of Leiden and was a research fellow at the University of Stellenbosch. He wrote several books and over 40 academic articles, most of which are about military history. He was a captain in the Reserve Force of the South African Army. His books include "The SADF in the Border War 1966-1989" [2013], "General Christiaan de Wet as Veldheer" [1978] and "Terror and liberation: The ANC/SACP, Communism and Violence (1961–1990)" [2022]. Scholtz died of leukemia in 2022 in Delft, the Netherlands, and is survived by his wife Ingrid, also a historian.