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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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Review Author
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$31.00

First released in 1974, the Tamiya M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage still holds up reasonably well to more modern offerings by this company, as well as some of the new folks on the block. This is one of several 1/35 scale kits that Tamiya has decided to re-release this year, and I for one certainly enjoy having another opportunity to build some of the kits that I missed out on back when they were originally released, as I had not yet picked up the armor modeling bug. A few years ago, I recall seeing a photograph of an M8 built by another modeler, and I started a search that took me a little over a year to fulfill in finding one of the original kits. That one is still on a shelf (along with a Verlinden update set), but this was a great opportunity to build what is a very well designed kit, even by today’s standards.

Review Author
Andy Renshaw
Published on
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.98

Many times one of the areas that we find lacking in kits is the wheels. Usually the tread pattern is very shallow, incorrect, or incomplete. Plus, whatever tread is present on the kit parts tends to get removed when smoothing over the seam created from having the wheels in two halves.

Ultracast has recently released a series of 1/48 wheel sets for the P-38 Lightning. This review concentrates on the “diamond tread” version. The parts are cast in flawless cream colored resin and feature beautiful detail including valve stems. Also on the main wheels, the internal brake drum is visible through the open spokes. The tread pattern is good and defined, and is more accurate than that in the Hasegawa kit. Comparing photos of wartime P-38 wheels, the Ultracast pattern looks correct while the kit tread pattern is very small. There is also a very slight flattening effect in the resin parts, which looks far more authentic than the “other” more common resin wheels available.

Review Author
Ed Kinney
Published on
Company
Alclad II
MSRP
$8.25
  • ALC 311Klear Kote Light Sheen 4oz/120ml
  • ALC 312 Klear Kote Semi-Matte 4oz/120m
  • ALC 313 Klear Kote Matte 4oz/120ml
  • ALC 314 Klear Kote Flat 4oz/120ml
  • ALC 408 Armoured Glass Tint 1oz/30ml
  • ALC 600 Aqua Gloss Clear 4oz/120ml

As has been the case for as long as I have known him, Tony Hipp seems to be on an endless quest to develop and bring to market still more excellent products for the discriminating modeler. For years, we’ve searched for the ultimate natural metal finishes, and when Alclad first came on the market, every other product took a distant place far behind. Tony’s products, my estimation, have become the benchmark to which all standards are measured.

These new offerings are not aluminum paints, but will go a long way to make whatever your modeling project is more realistic.

Review Author
Charles Landrum
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$35.50

Now this package is deceiving - it is marked as 1/48 scale. But Aires goofed in the printing of the packaging and these are really 1/32; if you have the Esci kit, you will instantly see the size difference. But no matter and on with the review…

While there is still no state of the art Mig-23 kit in 1/48, we now have the Trumpeter one in 1/32. Typical of the large Trumpeter aircraft, the basics of the wheel wells are there and are accurate, but they lack a lot of the detail that this scale cries out for. In 1/32 scale, the wheel wells are easier to detail, but the wells of the Mig-23 are complex and it will take a lot of effort to replicate the complexity of the space. Aires to the rescue!

Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
Company
Master Box Ltd
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$21.95

Master Box continues to release some really nice and different figure sets. These rests are very different than other sets on the market and usually very “in action” type poses. They also make a series of dual sets. These are designed to be easily made into a combat action series of figures. On their website, this is listed as #2 which means the German figures should be #1. The only issue is that there currently is no #1 set. There is however, an Italian Infantry in Africa set #1 and this must be the set to be used in conjunction with the #2 set.