Welcome to the IPMS/USA Reviews site!

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
Dick Montgomery
Published on
February 26, 2011
Company
Aoshima
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$39.98

A Brief History

For seven years, 1 month and 4 days, Hayabusa (translated as Peregrine Falcon) traveled to and from the asteroid, 25143 Itokawa. Returning to Earth, the Hayabusa, or more precisely, that portion of the spacecraft designed for re-entry and landing on Earth, landed near Woomera, Australia. Hayabusa returned particles of the asteroid for study, resulting in a significant advance in our knowledge of asteroids and, at the same time, setting a high standard for future flights of this nature.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
February 24, 2011
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$58.95

HISTORY AND PERFORMANCE

The Pz. Kpfw. III Ausf. E was the first in the series to go into extended production. 96 vehicles were manufactured from December 1938 until October 1939. Additional armor was included, along with the standardization of six road wheels per side, while the main armament consisted of the 37 mm KwK L/46.5, along with two 7.92 mm MG34 mounted in the turret, plus a single 7.92 mm MG34 mounted in the front of the hull. This tank saw service in Poland, France, and Greece.

Review Author
Jeff Faucett
Published on
February 24, 2011
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$42.95

Growing up near the beach, I saw plenty of double and triple-hull sailboats. I always thought that they were so cool and fast. So then I saw photos of the triple hull USS Independence, I knew I had to have a model of this ship. It looks so cool and fast, rumors are speed capability of 50+ knots.

The kit is modeled in typical Trumpeter gray and clear and consists of seven sprues (two clear), an upper hull, lower hull and three photo-etched frets. Also included with the kit are typical twelve page Trumpeter instruction booklet, a decal sheet, and a five-view color painting and marking guide.

Looking at each of the sprues, I found that the detail was crisp with no flash. However, I did find some ejector pin markings that need to be addressed, specifically in the hanger bulkheads. If you plan to keep the hanger door closed, as I plan to, you won’t have to deal with these.

Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
September 21, 2021
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$13.00

Model Art magazine is a very well known model magazine from Japan. It seems to do well selling here, even though it is written completely in Japanese. They really do believe in the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”. There are so many wonderful pictures in this magazine that you can really tell what is going on.

The magazine is 7 1/8 inches X 10 1/8 inches and is printed on glossy stock. Most of the pictures are in color and also a lot of black-and-white, toward the back. This magazine looks more like a trade paperback than a magazine, and it has a superb binding. No pages falling out here! This book is built to last for many projects to come.