Finished model

U.S. Motorcycle WLA w/ Rifleman

Landing gear bay

Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a

Entry door

E-2C Hawkeye 2000 VAW-115 Liberty Bells “Sayonara Atsugi”

Gun bay

North American F-51D Mustang Korean War

Completed chassis

U.S. Cougar 6x6 MRAP Vehicle

Right Cockpit Cab

Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe with Universal Military Pod

Overhead

Antonov An-2/An-2CX Colt

Closed canopy 2

A6M2b Zero Type 21 "Junyo Fighter Group"

Roof

Bad Company '82 Dodge Van

Top view

Nagmachon Early Heavy APC Israel Defense Forces

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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.

Packaging

E-2C Hawkeye Landing Gear
Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$17.00

Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal which is stronger than the plastic used in the kit’s pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.”

Packaging

Martin Baker MB Mk4 Ejection Seat
Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$4.25

PJ Production from Belgium makes resin aftermarket accessories for aircraft, as well as some very nice resin aircraft kits. Among their many products is a series of ejection seats to replace the usually plain kit-provided examples.

This particular seat is a Martin Baker Mark 4 seat. The listing isn’t more specific than that, but says it is to be used in Lightnings, Alpha Jets, Canberras, Hunters, and Vampires.

Now, I’m not entirely up on the Mk 4, but I know that most of those jets used different versions of the Mk 4, along with seats other than the Mk 4, in various versions of the aircraft. For instance, the Lightning used Mk 4BSB, 4BSC, 4BST, etc., while the Canberra used the Mk 1C, 3CSB, 4Q, 4QS, and others in various versions of the aircraft. I’m pretty sure the differences in the different types of Mk 4 were visually minor, so that’s acceptable to me.

Packaging

F-100C/D Super Sabre Wheel Bay
Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$21.50

Aires has created a new wheel bay upgrade set for the Trumpeter F-100C or F-100D. The set’s parts include the main wheel bay in the fuselage, the nose wheel bay, inserts to go into the wings, the nose gear doors and various struts, hoses, and retraction arms, along with a piece of wire to be used to replicate the hydraulic hoses for the main gear struts. In my set, the smaller pieces were broken off the casting block and all but two were missing. However, I’ve seen other copies of this set and this is not typical.

In order to install this set, you are directed to remove the kit wheel bays and the detail inside the top part of the wing. An advantage of this set is that you will not have to deal with the seam down the middle of the main bay after assembly. Additionally, there is added detail compared to the kit parts, especially in relation to the gear doors.

SAC Landing Gear Set

Spitfire Mk. XIV Landing Gear
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$11.95

I am a fan of Scale Aircraft Conversions gear, having used a number of SAC gear sets on previous projects. I do not replace the kit gear because they are of poor quality, but rather, the SAC gear are much stronger than the plastic kit parts, and require far less clean-up. It is the strength of the metal SAC parts that I particularly like.

Clean up on the SAC gear usually can be accomplished, when necessary, by a few swipes of an X-Acto blade which removes any mold steps. SAC gear can be primed and then shot with the same colors one would use on the plastic parts. In fact, the painting process for SAC gear is the same as for the kit parts.

SAC parts fit extremely well. In fact, the gear seen in the accompanying images were photographed prior to being glued into place. Some superglue was applied, and after a minute or so the SAC gear were firmly fixed into position.

Product Package

Halifax B Mk.I/II Air Intakes
Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.50

This is another typical Quickboost accessory set. It’s designed to be a drop fit replacement for a kit part, usually with detail enhanced in some way. For this particular set, the ends of the intakes are hollowed out for you. As you can see in the accompanying pictures, you’d have to do that for yourself with the kit parts. Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with the kit parts. This set just saves you the time it would take to add that extra level of detail and there are eight of them. The parts are nicely molded, with crisp detail and no casting flaws or bubbles. They are handed, so be careful that you put the correct one on the correct side.

Thanks go to Quickboost for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.