Right wing root

XF10F-1 Jaguar

Phoenix Missile Decals

Grumman F-14A Tomcat

Upper Front

M-48A1

Clear Parts

Mitsubishi F-15J Eagle 40th Anniversary Special Marking

Finished Model

SMB-2 Super Mystere

Flap / Aileron hinge

OS2U Kingfisher Build

Photoetch & clear plastic

T-90A Russian Main Battle Tank

Assembled Cockpit

Ju 88 WWII USAAF/RAF Bomber

detail work

Hurricane MK IIc Trop

Back View

Soviet Air Force Colonel, Korean War, 1951

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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.

BoxArt

Ford Police Car
Review Author
Joe Porche
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$12.95

This new Snap and Play kit from Revell is part of a series of kits going after the most junior of modelers. Ideal as a first model kit these models are pre-finished in a multitude of colors and have the minimum parts count to simplify constructions.

All the parts are packed in individual plastic bags to retain their finish and are removed the spure runners with the attachment points cleaned up. There are no tools necessary to complete the construction.

Parts Count - 17 total parts

  • 1 Pre-finished Ford Crown Victoria police car
  • 5 Clear styrene and finished parts
  • 5 Black parts
  • 2 Axles with wheels and tires attached
  • 2 Chassis mounting pins
  • 2 Chrome and colored parts

It actually took me longer to unpack, separate and count the kit parts than it did to construct the kit. The instructions are way simplified with no more that three parts going into each step. There are a total of 7 steps.

Package

AM-39 Exocet
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.95

Eduard Brassin line continues to expand by adding a very nice all-resin model of the AM-39 Exocet missile. While the Exocet is forever associated with the Super Etendard, it is also used in different aircraft, like Mirage V, Alpha Jet, Super Puma helicopters, and patrol aircraft like Breget Atlantic and P-3 Orion, just to name a few. As such this aftermarket set can be used in many different models.

In the box you get several cast resin pieces, all free of bubbles and imperfections. The casting blocks are small in size and easy to remove.

The missile body and body fins are cast in a dark-colored resin, while the missile exhaust tubes are cast in a clear-colored resin. The parts cast in clear-colored resin (exhaust tubes) are the only option you have; to build a Block 1 or a Block 2 AM-39. Do your research as to which block version you should build.

Package

HE 111P-2 Exterior Photoetch Set
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$29.95

This set contains 1 large sheet of photoetch parts. These parts are used to add a lot of detail to the engine cowlings, bomb bay, and landing gear for Airfix’s latest HE 111-P2 kit.

As with these sets from Eduard the details are great and add a lot of realism to the finished kit.

A great price for such fine additional detail especially to the bomb bay.

Many thanks for Eduard providing these for us to review.

Front cover

Ship Plans No. 1 - Japanese Destroyer Minekaze
Book Author(s)
Grzegorz Nowak
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$10.00

MMP has published Ship Plans No.1 featuring the Japanese Destroyer Minekaze. This publication consists of a number of fold-out line drawings of the Minekaze in 1/350th scale, 1/200th scale, and 1/700th scale. The line drawings show the vessel as configured in 1920, 1939, and 1944.

Much detail is shown including railings, rigging, armament, depth charge racks, antennas, and utility boats. There is little text beyond captions for some of the drawings.

This publication will prove extremely useful to ship modelers who favor IJN subjects. Also, it should be noted that this publication is identified as “No 1”, promising more publications in this series.

In North America Casemate serves as the distributor for MMP, and in Australia the distributor is Platypus Publications.

Book cover

US Navy Carrier Aircraft vs. IJN Yamato Class Battleships
Book Author(s)
Mark Stille
Review Author
Robert Head
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$18.95

Osprey is a publishing house in the United Kingdom that should be a household name to swarms of us. Osprey continues to expand their Duel series with the 68th book in this installment. The Duel Series examines the relative strengths and weaknesses of two adversaries across a particular conflict. This particular volume turns its attention to the US Navy Carrier group’s aircraft versus the IJN Yamato class battleships.

For the Duel series, the chapters are organized as follows: