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
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
September 5, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

The AN/APG-66 radar system was developed by Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman) in the 1970’s for use in the General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon, and entered service in 1979. The radar was utilized in both the A and B versions of the F-16, and was later replaced by the AN/APG-68 system. The AN/APG-66 weighed in at 362 pounds and was a multi-role, x-band unit with a range of 160 nautical miles. In addition to the F-16 A and B, variants of the radar was also installed on the F-4EJ (Japanese export version of the Phantom II), British Hawk 200, US Navy T-39N, and New Zealand A-4 aircraft. The modes of operation were range-while-scan, track-while-scan, velocity search, and gun director.

Book Author(s)
Dr. Robert Manasherob
Review Author
Randy Ray
Published on
September 4, 2011
Company
SabIngaMartin Publications
MSRP
$35.00

If you have any of Dr. Manasherob's previous volumes on Israeli armor, then you will find this book a comfortable, familiar format. It comes in at 80 pages, with heavy-stock and full-color covers. The paper is the same high-quality stock as is used in the previous books, which lends itself to crisp, clear reproduction of the photos presented. Speaking of the photos, the book offers over 300 in both color and black and white. Thirty-eight of the 80 pages are in full color, and include both photo walk-arounds and color profiles.

Review Author
Dave Koukol
Published on
September 4, 2011
Company
Zvezda
Scale
1/100
MSRP
$5.00

How cool is this? A teeny-tiny 9-piece German half-track in 1/100 scale – sweet! Now, I’m not an armor guy, but I do enjoy a good armor kit every now and then, and I sure do appreciate those life-like pieces of work that show up every month at club meetings and at contests. Frankly, they intimidate this aircraft modeler to some degree.

This little guy, however, is quite a different story. When I saw this was a snap kit and might be good for kids, I jumped at the chance to do this review with my 5-year old modeling “Mini Me,” Camden. As fate would have it, the night we planned to build it at a clubmate’s house, Camden and his junior clubmate buddy opted to assemble integrated air strike packages of plastic and diecast model planes, wreaking havoc on Lego ground forces, leaving my buddy Anthony and I to putz in the shop.

Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
September 3, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48

Editor's note: Eduard M.A. has requested that the following information be included in this review: The product reviewed "..that it's actually prototype product, and that there might be differences/enhancements when compared to the final, publicly released deck.." The item as given was not intended for review. Oct. 10, 2011

The Product

This was presented to IPMS President Dick Montgomery by Eduard at the 2011 IPMS convention held in August in Omaha as a not yet released item to be submitted for review. I told Dick, “I will do my best to give a complete and honest review.”

The base appears to be made of some type of hard plastic with very nice engravings and has what looks to be a date ‘2001’ embossed on the hollowed backside. Measuring 11 5/8” x 15 5/8”, this thing is big. It depicts an elevator centered in the wooden deck. The coloring is eye-catching, to say the least, and looks great from a couple feet away.

Review Author
Ed Kinney
Published on
September 3, 2011
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
Various, see review

Well, here it is September already, and our busy beaver fellow IPMSer Ross McMillan follows through with 6 new releases, including one for the all-new Tamiya 1/32nd P-51D Mustang.
As always, crisply cast with only minimal flash and very little cleanup required. Many thanks for the review samples! Keep up the great work.