IPMS/USA Reviews Website

Piper L-4 Grasshopper

Review Author

Floyd S. Werner Jr.

Published on

September 7, 2023

Company

Iliad Design

Scale

1:48

MSRP

$14.00

With the release of the Special Hobbies and Sabre Kits, the Piper L-4 kits the market cried out for some marking options. Iliad Designs answered the call with their L-4 offering.

Enclosed in a 6 x 9 Ziploc baggie, are an instruction sheet and one sheet of decals. The instructions are in full color on both sides for SIX colorful options. They are just not the plain-jane OD over Neutral Grey, although there are four, but there is also a silver doped one and one in sand camouflaged. For those looking for something different, there is one French aircraft and one with D-Day stripes with a French fin flash. How about a US Navy one? Yup, Iliad has you covered. The side views are on the front and the plan views are on the back. A little bit of the history of each aircraft is covered on the front side.

I’m not sure who printed the decals, but they are very crisp with good color saturation. They look suitably thin, as well as, being in perfect register.

Rust Textures

Review Author

Peter Bucher

Published on

September 7, 2023

Company

Green Stuff World

Scale

n/a

MSRP

$3.95

I received four bottles ($3.95 each) of Rust Textures from Green Stuff World. Numbers 2776 thru 2779. They are formulated to simulate rust colors and have an added rust texture to them. The four colors represented the various stages of rust from a dark brown old rust color to a light orange fresh new rust color. Upon opening the paint, I found they were very thick and had a grainy texture. They and not a thin liquid like the average paint. No shaking or stirring was needed to prepare them. However, I do recommend tapping the bottom of the bottle in the palm of your hand to make sure that not too much paint is gathered in the lid.

Liquid Pigments (Earth)

Review Author

Peter Bucher

Published on

September 7, 2023

Company

Green Stuff World

Scale

n/a

MSRP

$19.47

I received the Liquid Pigments Earth set from Green Stuff World (GSW). They are pigments formulated in a liquid form. The six colors represent various types of earth colors and are Desert Earth, Ochre Earth, Light Earth, Medium Earth, Dark Earth, and Burnt Earth and you receive 6 bottles of Liquid Pigments - 17 ml. in each bottle.

Upon opening the paint, I found they are very thin and watery but also very opaque. Each bottle has a shaker inside to help you with shaking and evenly distribute the pigments in the liquid.

Mi-24D Internal Fuel Tank

Review Author

Paul R. Brown

Published on

September 6, 2023

Company

Brengun

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$9.30

This is an interesting set from Brengun as it allows the modeler to replicate the large internal fuel tank sometimes carried by the Mi-24 Hind. The set has 6 parts, consisting of the tank, what appears to be a spigot or filler connection, and 4 parts that make up the cradle the tank sits on. The parts are all crisply cast. However, I did discover a few pinholes on the underside of the tank and the ends of the cradles that needed to be filled and smoothed out when I put on the first coat of primer.

As with Brengun’s other resin accessory kits, the first step is to remove the parts from the pour stubs. A sharp razor saw makes quick work of this. I next assembled the cradle with superglue and then set it aside to dry and harden. Before the superglue had set completely, I test fit the tank onto the cradle to ensure that everything lined up. Next, I attached the spigot/filler part to the appropriate end of the tank, making sure it was aligned as shown in the instructions.

Dambusters and the Lancaster, Warpaint Special #6

Book Author(s)

Desmond Brennan

Review Author

Paul Bradley

Published on

August 29, 2023

Company

Guideline Publications

MSRP

$25.00

Operation Chastise, the Dambusters Raid, hardly needs an introduction to anyone remotely interested in military aviation history. In this 80th anniversary year, there are several new books about the raid. This slim new volume from Guideline explores different aspects of the operation, its build-up, and aftermath in a general and abbreviated manner.

Author Des Brennan will be familiar to modeling magazine readers, and he approaches the subject with a number of short chapters outlining topics including:

The development of the Lancaster
Short biography of Barnes Wallis, developer of the ‘bouncing bomb’
Bomber Command and Arthur Harris
Preparations for the Raid
The aftermath
And others.

It’s an interesting, if short read. Brennan does a good job distilling the essentials into a cogent narrative.