Finished

Nakajima Ki27 TYPE97 FIGHTER (NATE) '4th Flight Regiment'

10

Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor

Completed model

E-2C Hawkeye 2000, USS Ronald Reagan

Assembly

Hurricane Mk llB

Right front

F-15E Strike Eagle

Right Front Quarter

T77 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage

Sprue 3

VCL Light Amphibious Tank A4E12 Late Production

Glow and Non Glow Godzillas

Godzilla

Interior looking to rear

SnapTite Ford Expedition Police SSV

PE fret

USS Freedom LCS-1

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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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Kitset Packaging

N1K1 Shiden Gun Barrels
Review Author
Tim Hortman
Published on
August 7, 2011
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$4.99

The fine folks at Aires and Quickboost continue to add to their line of aircraft detail parts. For this review I will be looking at their set of gun barrels for the Hasegawa 1/48 WWII Japanese Navy N1K1 Shiden fighter.

The Shiden (George) was a late war fighter, considered by many to be one of the best the Japanese used during the war. Hasegawa has several different boxings of this kit on the market today, and this detail set will work with them all.

As shown in the photos, this offering contains a small resin set of four cannon and one pitot tube. The detail on these parts is very good, and clearly a step above what is supplied in the kit. This set allows you to simply paint these parts and glue them in place – far easier than working with the kit parts, and much cheaper than the brass or metal alternatives on the market today.

Kitset Packaging

Ki-61 / Ki-100 Tony Stabilizers
Review Author
Tim Hortman
Published on
August 7, 2011
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$5.50

Here is another detail set from the folks at Aires/Quickboost: stabilizers for the WWII Japanese Army Fighters Ki-61 or Ki-100 Tony. This detail set will work with ANY of the 1/48 Hasegawa Ki-61 Hein “Tony” or Ki-100 kits on the market today. All of these aircraft shared the same basic airframe, and this detail set is compatible with them all.

As shown in the photos, this Quickboost detail set has four resin parts for the horizontal stabilizers on these fighters. The builder must cut the parts from the resin and remove a little flash before gluing the flaps in place. This is a very quick, easy, and inexpensive way to give your model that little extra detail.

The detail of these parts is on par with what you get in the kit. I recommend this detail set if you want an easy way to drop the flaps on your next 1/48 Hein project – especially of you don’t own a razor saw to cut the original kit parts.

Thanks to Aires and Quickboost for the review sample!

Kitset Packaging

A6M5 Zero Exhaust
Review Author
Tim Hortman
Published on
August 7, 2011
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Here’s another resin detail set in the fine line of Quickboost products. This time we’ll be looking at the resin exhaust detail set for the 1/48 Hasegawa A6M5 Zero Fighter.

As most of you know, the Reisen or Zero was the most famous Japanese Fighter of WWII. The A6M5 was the most produced variant of that aircraft. The Reisen saw combat in all theaters of the war, and there are several surviving examples in museums today. This fine resin detail set is designed to fit exactly with ANY of the 1/48 Hasegawa A6M5 kits on the market today (and there are many different ones out there to buy!).

Box Art

Spitfire Mk. IXc "Beer Truck"
Review Author
Keenan Chittester
Published on
November 11, 2021
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$50.00

The basis of this kit is the old Occidental kit, with extra parts added for the beer barrels and a beautiful Cartograf decal sheet with five options (4 RAF and 1 Dutch). The box states that these are “upgraded moulds”, but when I compared it to the MPM boxing of the Occidental kit it was obvious that the molds are basically the same. The Italeri kit only has the option of the rounded, narrow-chord rudder. Much has been written about the nose of the Occidental kit being too long, and since the Italeri kit uses the same molds, the nose is still too long. I think that the finished model looks like a Spitfire, but for you purists there is a correction set available from Aeroclub which shortens the nose by about 2mm.

Box Art

P-51C "Bendix Racer"
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
March 4, 2022
Company
Accurate Miniatures
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$39.99

Accurate Miniatures P-51C has been re-boxed many times. This is the “Bendix Racer” boxing of it. You get the standard sprues, which is a full military P-51C (i.e. machine guns are included in the kit).

Probably the main, and really the only problem about this kit, is the instructions. To begin with, they are very confusing regarding the left and right parts for the rear fuselage. You just have to use your common sense. Besides, it is very obvious which part is the left (or right) part of the fuselage; just look at the drawings and ignore the part number.

I assembled and detailed the cockpit as per instructions. Then I departed from the instructions by first gluing the forward and rear parts of each fuselage together, then assembling both full fuselages sides together. Simple enough to do, and it ensured a better alignment of the whole fuselage.