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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.

Book Author(s)
David Baker
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

From author David Baker’s Preface,

This is the first in a series of 15 volumes covering the story of US land-based and naval air power during the Cold War between 1945 and 1990. The series is divided into five separate chronological periods, each with three dedicated volumes subjectively aligned with significant developments in the history of American combat aircraft and US air power.

The intention is to provide a broad, spectral analysis of the origin, design, development and evolution of US Air Force combat aircraft as well as the political, industrial, design and manufacturing base from which they, and their variants, were developed. The volumes provided for each period, covering fighters and bombers, together present a story of US military air power.

Review Author
Jason Boggans
Published on
Company
Hobby Boss
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$70.00

The DF-41 (DongFeng 41) ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) is a brand new kit from HobbyBoss released in 2024. The Box art is typical HobbyBoss and is presented in a rigid top opener with well packed materials inside.

Lots of care and attention has been paid to protecting the contents and all items are fit snug into the box. The kit also contains some Color brochures depicting this particular kit and a brochure for the new HB kit U-2S ‘Dragon Lady’ due for release in May of 2024.

The Kit

The kit is comprised of multiple sprues, including around 11 plastic sprues, 1 clear parts, a copper tube for use in the missile elevation riser, a fret of PE, rubber tires and a decal sheet.

Instructions call for 21 steps in construction, step 1 mostly being the construction of the chassis and drivetrain along with the chassis support stiffeners.

Steps 2-7 are sub-assemblies for the wheel hubs, 16 in total are required 8 for each side.

Review Author
Michael Furry
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
12.99

Paint colors used by Japan during WWII are elusive and always seem to be up for debate.

ICM has added a set of Imperial Japanese Navy colors to their range of acrylic paint sets.

This set is packaged in a small rectangular box with images of the colors printed on the front. The back of the box features a profile of a Japanese ship with color call outs. This set includes five 12ml bottles of color and 1 17ml bottle of clear gloss. The bottles have twist-off caps and the opening is big enough to allow a Popsicle stick to be used to mix the paint.

The colors in this set are as follows:

Review Author
Chris Vandegrift
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
N/A
MSRP
$12.99

ICM has an expansive line of these acrylic sets and I was anxious to try them out. To see how they apply and what sheen they have as they dry, I pulled out a Saber-Tooth Tiger to paint for my son’s D&D games. Getting started I applied a dab of paint to a strip of white Styrene to determine how the colors would dry. Everything matched the color swatch on the box except the light flesh. It was definitely lighter than the swatch. For the tiger, I darkened it up with the deep brown for several layers. I also struggled to create pink. Originally given the pig on the box, I thought this would be possible. However, I couldn’t get this color with the orange. I intended to use it for the inside of the tiger’s jaws. Doing a figure gave me the opportunity to try a few different styles of paint application. Straight out of the bottle the paint fills the brush and applies smoothly. I didn't have any issues with the paint drying too quickly or globbing up along the edge of the brush strokes.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
N/A
MSRP
$12.99

ICM hobby company has provided the IPMS/USA reviewer corps with a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set based on the colors of the Napoleonic Wars.

In the Box

The paint set contains six 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. The following colors are provided:

  • Deep Orange (1006)
  • Deep Red (1007)
  • Deep Green (1009)
  • Gold (1017)
  • Off White (1028)
  • Dark Blue (1077)

Straight out of the bottle the paint viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to be primed prior to painting. Volume wise, the paint takes up about 70% of the bottle and has “room” to add thinner if so desired.

Note: the bottles are not the usual dropper-style (Vallejo) but a twist off cap and a large opening to allow brushes easier access.