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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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To learn more about IPMS/USA, please see our About Us page.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Master Details
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$45.00

The owner of Masterwork truly knows Micro-metal machine work; Here is the first review of the three sets from Master Model which are all common in design but different in utility; IPMS USA sincerely appreciates Master’s support of our reviewer corps, and thanks to our leaders for sending these my way!

All parts are individually bagged by item within the generic display header bag; this prevents damage and ensures you have the correct bits to finish the set.

Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
Company
Gallery Models
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$329.98

The Ship

Launched in April 1943 and commissioned four months later, USS Intrepid (CV-11) participated in numerous actions in the central and western Pacific from early 1944 until the end of the Pacific War, including Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. She was hit twice by kamikazes but was still on station at the end of hostilities. Intrepid underwent modernization twice during the 1950s, which enclosed her bow and gave her an angled flight deck. Reclassified as an Anti-submarine Carrier (CVS-11), Intrepid was the lead ship for the NASA’s Mercury Aurora 7 and the Gemini 3 splashdown recovery. From April 1966 to February 1969, she made three deployments to the waters off Vietnam. She ended her active career back in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, being decommissioned in 1974 with over 30 years of service. In August 1982, Intrepid was reopened as a museum ship in New York harbor.

Book Author(s)
William Medcalf
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Specialty Press
MSRP
$99.95

Specialty Press and Crecy Publications bring us an outstanding study of the Ju-88 airplane. The book has a total of 15 chapters, which covers the historical backdrop under which the Ju-88 was developed, includes very detailed analysis on other prototypes and German bombers, even allied bombers in a similar class and then it delves into the evolution of the Ju-88 from the A-1 model, to the late war models and the long range maritime fighter patrol.

The chapters are

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$55.00

Hasegawa has re-released its well-known Ki-45 “Nick” or “Toryu” (Dragon Slayer) as a limited edition with markings for attack units based out of Philippines or the Home Islands.

Like most airplane models you start with the cockpit, which includes separate side panels for better detail. Note in the images that some ejection mark pins need to be filled out in the interior of the fuselage sides, as they won’t be covered by the separate side panels. At the same time those panels have knock-off marks that need to be removed too.

The cockpit floor includes molded-in wings spars that will facilitate wing alignment. In order to get the fuselage sides to close (during dry-fitting) I realized I needed to enlarge the slots in the fuselage sides for the wing spars. That improved the fit of the fuselage sides by a lot.

Book Author(s)
J. M. Bruce
Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Albatros Productions, Ltd.
MSRP
$29.85

This datafile, written by the great J. M. Bruce was originally published in 2000. It has long been sold out and has now been reprinted in limited quantities. This is great news for aviation enthusiasts who missed the book the first time and also to modelers who are the proud owners of recent kits from Roden and from Wingnut Wings.

This datafile is larger than most at 42 pages and the pages are full of great photos, a detailed discussion of the Felixstowe aircraft and detail photos of such areas as the cockpit, construction, armament etc. An excellent feature of the book is a discussion of Camouflage and Markings written by Ray Rimell which covers some of the great dazzle schemes applied to the Felixstowe. Profiles of these schemes are contained on the rear cover. As usual with the datafile series, detailed 1/48 and 1/72 scale multi-view drawings are included. These also contain information of the beaching trolley.