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
Dave Morrissette
Published on
August 20, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

Eduard extends it Brassin range of excellent resin parts with a replacement exhaust for their Mig21MF and SMT kits. This resin and photoetch set is comprised of seven perfectly cast resin parts and one photoetch piece.

There are some minor casting blocks to remove which may take up to 3 minutes to get done. Detail is excellent on all the parts. There are two resin parts which are installed inside the actual exhaust. These fit together and one has a series of 10 arms that stick out from the center hub. This was very difficult to get loose without breaking the resin. In the end I did break three and have to replace with styrene scrap. This part then aligns on top of the other which takes a little patience.

Review Author
Jeffrey Brown
Published on
August 20, 2011
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$24.95

As an armor builder I wanted to review this kit partly as a challenge to see how well I could build a car. Mainly I wanted to review this kit because I love Ferrari’s. The kit is molded mostly in white, with a sprue of chrome parts and some rubber tires. The decals are nicely done, but a few items required an aftermarket set to enhance the model. At first glance the kit looks very nice except for a few minor details that are an easy fix.

The Ferrari 458 comes in several colors, and I found pictures on the internet of one I liked that is white with black rims and an all black interior.

You begin by building the engine, which is cool, except for the fact that the majority of this work is hidden by the engine bay and cover. I painted the engine even though on my curbside edition you really won’t see much detail once the body is on.

Book Author(s)
Robert Humphreys
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
August 18, 2011
Company
SAM Publications
MSRP
$24.75

This book answered a question that has nagged me for many years, since Frog first came out with their Spitfire 14 kit back in 1968. Why would Supermarine want to go away from the fabulous Merlin engine and try something new? Well, this book answered that question early on. The answer is 1700 hp for the Griffon vs 1030 hp for the Merlin.

The contents are:
History

  1. Enter the Griffon
  2. Super Spitfire
  3. The Spitfire in Belgium
  4. High Flying Spy
  5. Last of the Spitfires
  6. The First Griffon Seafires
  7. The F Mk 21 at Sea
  8. Spiteful and Seafang, the Last of the Line Modeling
    • Colour Side Views
    • Colour Interior Artwork
  9. The Basics
  10. Understanding the Subject
  11. Detailing
  12. Building the Spitfire and Seafire
  13. Camouflage and Markings

Appendices