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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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
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$25.00

32-061 $25.00
48-236 $20.00

First, sincere appreciation to our friends at Twobobs Decals for providing IPMS/USA these review items. These sheets provided impetus for me to finally properly build an F-15 from one of my old units. Twobobs have consistently filled a niche for decals previously unavailable from other sources.

Enclosed within the standard protective plastic sleeve are three decal sheets to mark F-15Cs from the 36th TFW at Bitburg AB, Germany accurately. Although this base is now closed, it used to be the hub of F-15 operations within central Germany. In my former life in the USAF, from 1988 through 1990, I was the F-15 Weapon System Maintenance Manager at 17th AF at Sembach AB, GE; we had to provide daily tracking and status of all our jets, as the “Cold War” was not so cold and we only had so many Eagles to fend off the Russian hoards… Was an interesting time, and I didn’t realize how good I had it.

Review Author
Bill Hollis
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$32.00

This is a fine addition to the model maker’s resin arsenal by our friends over at Aires. It goes a long way toward addressing one of the weaker areas of many Thunderbolt kits.

The design of the original plane presents mold makers with something of a difficulty, given that the wheel wells of the lower mid-mounted wing extend into the fuselage. The fact that the wells on any P-47 model are eminently visible, and the full size version fairly complicated to boot, make matters more gnarly yet for the finesse- and detail-conscious modeler.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$58.95

This is a multimedia kit comprised of 650+ styrene parts on 17 sprues, magic tracks, one braided metal wire (which is very stiff even after annealing), one photo-etched fret, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together.

Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues with new sprues added to create a new kit variant. In this case, Dragon has done so and you will have some sprues with the same letter but are called out by the color or upper or lower case (see Sprues Black G, Blue G and Black g).

Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets, road wheels, and return wheels. There are no problems here other than the removal of the mold line which is noticeable on the road wheels.

Step 2. This step is the chassis build. There are 4 mold stubs on the top of the chassis tub that need to be removed. If you don’t remove these stubs the fenders will not fit.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.99

Wow – this is such a great first release by new company Furball Designs and its chief cook and bottle washer, Geoff Martin. The decals are for the new Hobbyboss 1/48 F3H Demon and include markings for 9 (yup, NINE) planes:

  • F3H-2M, 1957, VX-4 (with the Playboy bunny logo)
  • F3H-2, 1963, VF-14
  • F3H-2, 1962, VF-21
  • F3H-2, 1963, VF-54
  • F3H-2M, 1958, VF-61
  • F3H-2, 1959, VF-101
  • F3H-2M, 1958, VF-24
  • F3H-2, 1961, VF-31
  • F3H-2, 1959, VF-41

The decals come in two sheets – one is color and is 8" x 10" and the other is all black and is 7.5" x 8". Printing is by Cartograf and is superb, is in register, and is colorful. One thing that is excellent is the decals are separated for things like the speed brakes or the wing fences and there is no need for the modeler to cut.

Book Author(s)
Dmitriy Khazanov and Aleksander Medved
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

This is number 102 in the well-known Aircraft of the Aces series from Osprey. Like others in the series, this book does not disappoint! This is the first English language publication with information about the aces that flew the MiG-3.

The book is broken down into six chapters. Chapter one covers the development and deployment of the MiG-3, with the next four chapters covering VVS combat experience with the MiG-3s. The last chapter covers the MiG-3 in the hands of Soviet naval aviators. I particularly enjoyed the account of Sr. Lt. Aleksey Storozhakov’s forcing an Hs-126 to land. He then landed alongside the Henschel and ordered the crew to surrender. After having secured the aircraft, he removed the camera and rear machine gun, which he presented to his CO!