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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
Greg Wise
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$49.00

History Brief

The iconic T-34 medium tank has certainly left its mark in the pages of history. It’s one of the highest produced and longest serving tanks of all time. Identifying T-34 variants can be frustrating and complicated. There were several differing turret castings between factories. New features were commonly added in the middle of production runs while other features were deleted. In addition damaged or older tanks were rebuilt or retrofitted and the addition of newer-model equipment and new turrets was a common practice. Our sample tank is from factory 112 located in Gorki. It appears to be a late version with a ‘mushroom’ type turret featuring early or late style copula and venting arrangements options.

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$9.84

Model Art Magazine is a monthly magazine that covers aircraft, armor, ships and car modeling. Model Art started releasing magazines in 1966 and has evolved from there over the past forty nine years.

The February issue starts off with a build article of the Zoukei - Mura 1/32 Horten Ho229, IJA/N Airplane Illustrated and a special report from the 2014 Reno National Championship Air Race and Air Show.

The main article this month is a feature of many of the new ship models that have been released in 2014 and 2015. Some of these releases are the Fujimi 1/700 Kaga with 3 stage flight deck, Aoshima 1/700 Kanmusu Light Aircraft Carrier Chitose, Hasegawa 1/450 JMSDF Atago and the Pit Road 1/700 IJN Special Cargo Ship Kashino.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
Company
Moebius Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$34.99

The Kit

This review covers the Battlestar Galactica Viper Mark II (2 Pack) 1:72 Scale Moebius Model Kit #957. A new release, this model should be readily available at most outlets. These are resized versions of the original 1:32 scale model. Moebius designates this as a Skill Level 3 kit for modelers 12 years and older. It includes two main trees containing most of parts for each craft. It is molded in white styrene with a transparent canopy, display stand, waterslide decals and an extensive instruction manual.

There are markings for different craft in the decal sheet. I have to give Moebius Models credit for releasing this model and to IPMS for providing the review sample.

Review Author
Jim Stratton
Published on
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$44.00

Following their release of the 75mm Pack Howitzer with ¼ ton truck and crew, Bronco has released a British airborne version with a crew of five. When this kit came up for review, I had just finished building Vision’s 75mm Pack Howitzer and thought it would give me an opportunity to compare the two kits. Much to my surprise the Bronco kit is the Vision kit with a new sprue added to detail up the original kit. There are two sets of trails on the pack howitzer. The front trails and the rear trails. Both sets are hollow, with lightening holes on the sides. The hollow front trails house the equilibrator springs and the rear trails are just hollow. Vision released the original kit with a one piece molding of the rear trails, which looked okay but really didn’t represent the hollow trails to well. In the Bronco release you get the entire Vision kit along with a new sprue of parts that better represent the hollow rear trails.

Book Author(s)
Paul Lucas
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Guideline Publications
MSRP
$16.71

I am a “History of the Battle of Britain” enthusiast, and as an offshoot of that enthusiasm I am a follower of all things “RAF”. When given the opportunity to review Guidelines Publications new “Camo & Markings” book I jumped at the chance.

As an enthusiast of the “historical aspect”, I found this publication to be superb. As a scale modeler I found this book to be an excellent reference for colors and markings of the RAF. You will not be disappointed!