Chrome Sprue

Roland Leong’s Hawaiian Charger Funny Car

Front view

KFK Kriegsfischkutter – WWII German Multi-purpose Boat

Finished model

Su-76i

Main Gear Wells Assembled

Tempest Mk.V OVERTREES

Safir Finished Left Front

SAAB 91 Safir B/C/D

Filler on Fins 2

The Jetsons Capsule Car

Gondola Assm

German Railway Gun K5(E) "Leopold" w/ Figures

2

VW Golf Polazei

Finished Model

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. F Sd.Kfz 161

Primed pieces

Shed with Wooden Fence

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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

HU-16A Albatross Landing Gear

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$26.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) has provided the IPMS reviewer corps with a set of 1/48th scale metal landing gear for Trumpeter’s HU-16A Albatross. These parts are drop-in replacements and provide a more robust landing gear set given its metal properties.

In the Package

The metal pieces are packaged in a clear blister package with cardboard backing. No instructions are provided.

Review Process

The metal landing gear set is used as drop-in replacements for the kit parts as noted

  • Nose Gear: G12, G19 and G16 (also Metal Nose Strut parts A & B)
  • RHS Gear: J19, J26, and K11 (also Metal Right Strut)
  • LHS Gear: J16, J21, and K27 (also Metal Left Strut)

Note: The Trumpeter kit does provide some metal landing struts as optional parts for the builder. However, SAC does provide more replacement parts in this set.

package cover

A6M5/5a Zero Landing Gear (Fine Molds)
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

The iconic Mitsubishi A6M Zero was the Imperial Japanese Navy’s primary carrier-based fighter plane from 1940-1945. Over 10,000 of these ubiquitous fighters were produced, with the A6M5 Type 0 Model 52 being the last and most effective model. Scale Aircraft Conversion has produced its famous white metal landing gear for the A6M5/5a Zero in 1/48 scale. As aircraft modelers well know, aircraft models displayed on their landing gear are susceptible to damage from the weight of the model, especially on styrene landing gear.

Scale Aircraft Conversion has had the solution since 1990. Their white metal landing gear is designed to bear the weight of the model and complement the detailed non-load bearing plastic parts. Their extensive range covers white metal landing gear from 1/144 to 1/18 scale aircraft.

Cover

British Anti-Aircraft Cruisers
Book Author(s)
Les Brown
Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
Company
Seaforth Publishing
MSRP
$28.95

This is another book in this series, each concerning itself with one particular type or class of ship. This one is about British Anti-/Aircraft Cruisers and includes ships specifically built for this mission or converted to it. As usual for this series, it is not so much a history of the ships, although brief accounts of their careers are included, as it is a description of the various specific modifications made to them that made them anti-aircraft ships. Included are the “C” class cruisers that were converted for this work, merchant vessels that were requisitioned and converted and the more-or-less purpose build Dido Class ships.

Package

R.O.K Army K808 Wheeled Armored Vehicle
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$52.00

As this is a relatively new and unknown combat vehicle, Wikipedia provided some background:

The K808/806 White Tiger (Korean: 백호 "Baekho", Hanja: 白虎) wheeled armored personnel carrier (APC) is family of 8×8 and 6×6 armored vehicles. Developed by Hyundai Rotem as a private venture in 2012, the Korean Army declared a plan to acquire 600 6×6 and 8×8 wheeled APCs in order to help build rapid response forces modeled after U.S. Stryker combat brigades.

Package

AV-8B Harrier II Plus Landing Gear

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$22.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) has provided the IPMS reviewer corps with a set of 1/48th scale metal landing gear for UMa’s AV-8B Harrier II Plus. These parts are drop-in replacements and provide a more robust landing gear set given its metal properties.

In The Package

The metal pieces are packaged in a clear blister package with cardboard backing. No instructions are provided.

Review

The metal landing gear set is used as drop-in replacements for the kit parts as noted:

  • Nose Gear: C1, D20, D21, and D26
  • Rear Gear: D9 and D17
  • Wingtip Outrigger Gear: D15, D16, D18, and D19

The metal used is malleable and has some give to allow for any minor bending if needed. Also, seam lines will need to be cleaned up prior to painting just like the plastic kit parts.