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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
John Kaylor
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/16
MSRP
$79.95

`The key word for this article is “big”.

Kenworth trucks are the “big rigs” of my childhood. I remember being entertained by “BJ and the Bear”, getting into CB-radios, Smokey and the Bandit, and being in awe of those truckers who could rattle on in CB-lingo for ten-minutes straight, and feeling lucky if I could manage to decode any of it. “10-4 good buddy – I got ya 5 by 5! Kojak with a Kodak in a gumball machine handing out invitations to meet the mayor at the Hilltop gun range. Keep to the double-nickel. Had me some hundred mile coffee last fingerprintin’ - on the way to a pickle park – over.” Even vaguely remember a series of trading cards with “trucker lingo” on them in a pack with a very stale piece of gum back in the day.

Review Author
Tom DeMichael
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$50.00

First shown to the public in 2007 the Su-35 has been under development since 2005. The Russians have classified the Su-35 as a “fourth ++ generation” fighter. Essentially the Su-35 is an upgraded version of the Su-27. One of the most noticeable upgrades being the Su-35 having thrust vectoring nozzles.

There are roughly 299 parts in the kit however some of them aren’t used. There are 15 total sprues, one of which is a stand for the model, and there are 3 duplicate sprues. The decals provided allow making either the 901 or 902 prototype version plane. There are a lot of options selecting armament for the plane, which makes that step fun. This is a re-boxed kit with a change of decals so there isn’t a major upgrade in any of the tooling. The fuselage comes in two halves and they fit together really nicely. The panel lines are scribed and some will need to be put back in when you sand down edges, but most of it looks deep enough that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Ampersand Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

Do you have one of the old AMT/ERTL XB-35 or YB-49 kits sitting around just waiting for the perfect reference? Or perhaps you have one of the small-scale Dragon kits and you want to add just that little something extra. Well, your wait is over, you’re out of excuses. This book is the AMS sufferer’s dream (nightmare?) when it comes to those two visionary aircraft.

Review Author
Gordon Miller
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$23.95

The first Corvette made it's debut in New York City's Waldorf Historia Hotel at the 1953 Motorama, a traveling showcase of the days' automotive industry's newest styles. The '53 Corvette was designed by GM legendary designer, Harley Earl. For it's debut, the Corvette was made available in only a single color, white. Also, it had only a red interior with a black folding top. I did not know this until reading up the 1953 Corvette. And much to the chagrin of hot rodding enthusiasts, it also came with a V6! There were only 300 of these produced, as they were assembled in a single plant in Flint, Michigan.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$24.95

The D-704 Buddy Pod was an aerial refueling pod used for many aircraft to refuel others in addition to the purpose built tankers of today. The military still uses an updated version of this pod to provide in-flight refueling. It contains approximately 300 gallons of fuel. Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced one in 1/32 scale for use with the kits listed above.