Bare, no paint

Easy Line Old-Style Movie Camera

Photo 4

Star Trek – U.S.S. Enterprise – NCC-1701

Front View

Nestle Crunch Monster Truck

Finished

Panzer IV/70(A)

3 completed cockpit

Lockheed Martin F-104 Starfighter A/C

Painted & decaled

MiG-15 Ceskoslovenske Patnactky

Left-front view of finished model

Mig 21MF Overtrees

Runner A

Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. Type J/L/M, Part 1

Tu-22M2 loading AS-16 Kickbacks

Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire C

Finished Model - Left Side

German King Tiger "Henschel Turret"

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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.

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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.

Cover

Propliners of the World Vol. 1
Book Author(s)
Gerry Manning
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
March 29, 2012
Company
Flight Recorder Publications
MSRP
$19.95

This book is a photographic look at classic prop driven aircraft around the world. Some of the aircraft covered in volume one are the DC-3, DH Beaver, Twin Otter, Beech 18, Norseman, and Connie, as well as some of the early turbo-props.

Chapter one is a photo essay on the venerable DC-3, covering both restored examples and those still earning a living, as well as the turbo-prop variants. Over one third of the book is devoted to the DC-3.

Chapter two covers bush and floatplane operations, predominantly in Canada and Alaska. All the classics are here in photos – the Otter, Beaver, Goose, Albatross, and more.

Chapter three covers the preserved prop liners and pleasure flyers. Beautiful color photos of preserved Connies, DC-4, 6 & 7s, Convair 580s, Martin 4-0-4, as well as Ju-52s and many others are here.

Cover

Model Art Special – Japanese Battleship Yamato
Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
March 28, 2012
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$24.95

This Model Art Special edition exclusively covers the battleship Yamato (and, in a limited fashion, her sister Musashi). With the exception of one short translated section covering the operational history of Yamato, the text is entirely in Japanese. However, the beautiful photography and numerous illustrations speak for themselves. The selection of articles is roughly divided between historical information and model illustration and building techniques and includes:

Box Art

Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer-Starr
Review Author
Tracy Palmer
Published on
March 28, 2012
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$53.99

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), later known as Hetzer ("baiter"), was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. Panzerjaeger 38(t) Starr was a simplified version of the Hetzer which attached the 7.5cm PaK 39 gun to the chassis and was fitted with a Tatra diesel engine. 10 were built, 9 converted back to normal Hetzers. The remaining prototype was destroyed at the end of the war.

This was one of the top five kits I have built—EVER. This is my third Hetzer and 5th 38(t) chassis’d vehicle in the last 3 years. Hands down the best fitting kit of all. It did have some issues though.

Box Art

Rumpler C.IV Early
Review Author
Nick Buro
Published on
March 27, 2012
Company
Wingnut Wings, Ltd
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$89.00

Once again, another stunner by Wingnut Wings. The upper wing simply clicks into place!! You can’t say enough in praise about these kits. I’d buy them all if I had the money. (Maybe I will someday…)

Included in the kit are high quality Cartograf decals with markings for six different aircraft.

The kit has a highly detailed, 18 part 260HP Daimler Mercedes D.VIA engine, optional spinner, stick, wheel control systems, wireless, flares, radiators, cameras, propellers, and teddy bear accessories. Fine, in scale rib tape detail is present on the wings.

Full scale rigging diagrams are provided, plus a thirty page instruction booklet that has it all. A little tricky, but it is all there!

Decal Packaging

RCAF Beaufighters in Coastal Command
Review Author
Dan Mackay
Published on
March 27, 2012
Company
Aviaeology
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$10.59

This is a follow-up to Michael Novasad’s earlier review on the 1/48 sheet, but this time it’s the 1/72 sheet. Aviaeology provides well-researched decals on four RCAF Beaufighters covering the changing markings during the service careers of these aircraft. Each subject is complete with narratives on time period and painting suggestions. The instructions and diagrams are provided on four photocopied sheets, but an email request to Aviaeology will get you a promptly sent color PDF of the instructions which will prove helpful. The PDF can be printed or sent to your tablet for reference in your model workshop. You can magnify the profiles as recommended by Aviaeology to identify the subtle shades of extra dark sea grey to aid in weathering your Beaufighter. You also get a tutorial of the rocket projectiles and the rails used, with complete painting guides for them. Listed below is a breakdown of the subjects: