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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.

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Review Author
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
December 11, 2011
Company
Aoshima
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$42.00

From the 1983 hit movie “Blue Thunder” comes a 1/48 rendition of the helicopter used in the film, which shared the same name. In the movie, the Blue Thunder was developed as part of project THOR (Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response), as the city of Los Angeles was preparing to host the Olympics in 1984. The main character was Frank Murphy, as portrayed by the late Roy Scheider, and his partner was Richard Lymangood (aka JAFO), played by Daniel Stern. One of the most famous scenes of the movie is when Frank puts the Blue Thunder in a 360 degree loop in order to dismiss his nemesis Col. F.E. Cochrane (played by Malcolm McDowell).

Review Author
Tom Jett
Published on
December 11, 2011
Company
Fujimi
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$35.95

Being primarily an armor modeler, I was interested in this kit after seeing a fellow modeler’s build on the web. After all, it has tracks, doesn’t it?

The kit is, in a word, miniscule…really. I was a little surprised that, for a 1/32 kit, it was so small. Don’t let size fool you though, Fujimi has provided a little gem here. The kit features only three small sprues; two molded in bright yellow styrene that make up the excavator itself, and one molded in white styrene containing 13 parts that provide some general construction site supplies – wheelbarrow, cones, etc. No decals or markings of any kind are included in the kit, an unfortunate drawback in my opinion.

The mere 60 parts are crisply molded and required little, if any, clean up. A few parts may require a quick pass from a #11 blade to remove some minor mold seam, but that’s it.

Book Author(s)
Robert Forsythe
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
December 11, 2011
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

Osprey’s latest book in their “Aircraft of the Aces” series, number 101, covers the Luftwaffe Aces that were primarily engaged against the US (and to a lesser degree, British) heavy bombers attacking the Third Reich during World War II. This book is limited to covering pilots that became aces, shooting down 5 or more “Viermots” (short in German for “four motors”). For some reason, only day fighters are covered in this book, although the British bombers operating at night were also mostly four-motored. Perhaps this is because there has already been an Osprey volume dedicated to German nightfighter aces?

Review Author
Doug Hamilton
Published on
December 11, 2011
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.95

The P-38 Lightning was used in both European and Pacific theaters during World War II. It operated from paved strips as well as fields barely straight enough to throw rocks at. If there was one critical part of the aircraft on which the pilot placed his life during takeoffs and landings, it was the tires.

Ultracast, located north of the border in Canada, offers quite a few accessories for many different modeling subjects. This offering, #48227, is a block tire tread design replacement for any 1/48 scale P-38 kit. The package contains three spoked wheels, two main and one nose. All are cast in a tan resin, and have the pour gate still attached at the flattened bottom of the tire. A razor saw removed the gates quickly, and painting was the next step.

Review Author
Doug Hamilton
Published on
December 11, 2011
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.95

The P-38 Lightning was used is both European and Pacific theaters during World War II. It operated from paved strips as well as fields barely straight enough to throw rocks at. If there was one critical part of the aircraft on which the pilot placed his life during takeoffs and landings, it was the tires.

Ultracast, located north of the border in Canada, offers quite a few accessories for many different modeling subjects. This offering, #48225, is a smooth tire replacement for any 1/48 scale P-38 kit. The package contains three spoked wheels, two main and one nose. All are cast in a tan resin, and have the pour gate still attached at the flattened bottom of the tire. A razor saw removed the gates quickly, and painting was the next step.