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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.

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Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.00

Hauler produces photo-etched and resin upgrade sets for armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), airplanes, cars, railway vehicles, and dioramas. They also produce a few resin kits. Their products are in most of the common scale sizes, 1/72, 1/48, and 1/35, but they also produce a number of other items in common railroad hobbyist scales.

This diorama accessory is a US Army Field Safe. The safe itself is a resin box, with 3 additional pieces of resin representing the combination dial, door handle, and the actual door with “US” stamped on the front. There is a small photoetch sheet, which contains six pieces of photo-etch that will make up the inside shelves for the safe. A simple instruction sheet is included too.

Book Author(s)
Marshall L. Michel III; Illustrated by: Adam Tooby
Review Author
Keith Pruitt
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$24.00

The Air Campaign Series from Osprey Publishing covers several operations from World War II in the European (Battle of Britain, Operation Crossbow and Sink The Tirpitz) and Pacific (Rabaul) Theaters, as well as operations during the Vietnam War (Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I and Linebacker II).

Book Author(s)
Leo Marriot
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$22.95

Thanks to Casemate Publishing & IPMSUSA for the review copy!

This book is also available in a hardback version (302 pages) priced at $55.00.

Casemate Publishers has reprinted a definitive review of the so-called “Treaty Cruisers” by Leo Marriot. The author has a long list of military books to his credit, focusing on WW2 ground actions and WW2 to modern naval subjects, including this title. He is known for an excellent book on the Titanic and The Universe, with illustrated views from the Hubble Space Telescope.

You get a 9.25 X 6 inches size paperback book with three Parts, 14 Chapters and four Appendices. Although the covers have a red tint, the book is completely B&W (no color) inside. The small print text is interspersed with B&W photos of ships, most of which are seen elsewhere, but there are a few rare ones. There are also small line drawings of profiles of ships. But mostly, this book is crammed full of text.

Book Author(s)
Philip Young
Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
Company
Veloce Publishing
MSRP
$26.45

Veloce Publishing has issued a number of books in their SpeedPro Series that illustrates practical automotive performance tips and advice. This softcover book conations 96 pages of honest and engaging information on “How to Build a Successful Low-Cost Rally Car.”

It is first and foremost a primer that shows you how to enter the field of long-distance endurance racing on a budget but it also has information and close-up photos of the kinds of modifications that can be used to recreate an authentic replica of those spartan race cars in scale.

The book is British-centric and many of the automotive terms like bonnet and windscreen (just as the races are) are prevalent but are easily understood from context so it’s still a pretty easy read.

Book Author(s)
Tony Holmes; Illustrator: Jim Laurier, Gareth Hector
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

The opponent vs opponent series is one of Osprey’s most enjoyable, this volume does not disappoint. The Hellcat was a later war USN fighter of which 12,275 were built. It was fast, maneuverable and very rugged (there is good reason Grumman was called “The Iron Works”. The Hellcat became the premier fighter of the USN. The Kawanishi Shiden and Shiden-Kai of which a total of approximately 1400 were built, was developed from a floatplane and departed from customary Japanese design philosophy in that it was heavily armed and both maneuverable and ruggedly constructed.

The book is broken down into 10 sections beginning with two short introduction and design chronology sections totaling 4 pages.