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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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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.

Review Author
Dave Koukol
Published on
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.95

Background

Lightweight, compact, agile, versatile, and reliable, the ¼-ton truck, or Jeep as it is commonly known, was a natural vehicle of choice for British and American airborne forces dropping behind enemy lines in small assault gliders. Often towing small trailers, Jeeps were ideal for transporting squads of airborne troops and their gear quickly and quietly in challenging operational scenarios.

The Kit

Crisply molded in light grey and light olive styrene, this Bronco kit promises to provide many hours of high-quality modeling. A signature of Bronco’s commitment to recreating the finest of details, the kit is packed with 12 sprues of Jeep and personal gear parts, ranging in size from tiny to medium, 10 sprues of figure parts and personal gear, two frets of excellent photoetched brass, and two sheets of decals (one for the Jeep, and one for uniform rank insignia).

Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Iliad Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$12.00

The latest 1/48 scale decal set available from Iliad Design provides markings for seven different Korean War-era MiG-15s. The instruction sheet clearly shows six aircraft, but modelers do have the option of doing a seventh (I’ll explain below). Markings are included for four (or five) natural metal and two camouflaged aircraft flown by North Korean, Chinese and Russian pilots. Note that unlike some aftermarket decal companies that provide a variety of unique markings for different aircraft but only one set of national markings, Iliad includes enough national insignias to do all of the aircraft on this sheet. This makes Iliad Design’s modest retail price a real bargain.

The options are:

Book Author(s)
Douglas C. Dildy
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$21.95

Fall Gelb 1940 was a detailed German deployment order designed to launch the initial phase of Hitler's military campaign to eliminate the Western democracies from the European conflict. Osprey Publishing covers this deployment order in the new book Fall Gelb 1940 (1): Panzer Breakthrough in the West.

The objective of the Fall Gelb was to defeat the largest possible forces of the Anglo-French army by an attack through Belgium and Luxembourg territory, thereby paving the way for the destruction of the military strength of the enemy.

Chief architect of the Fall Gelb plan was OKH Chief of Staff, General Franz Halder. Halder’s plan included four parallel branches:

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/16
MSRP
$30.00

First off, thanks to MRC for providing us this review item… we in IPMS USA appreciate and value your support!

This review was a bit different for me; I tend toward aviation and naval subjects, and this particular series keeps cranking out interesting figures. I have a DR-1 that could use some company, so here we are… Comprised of 30 parts in gray plastic, with a red circular display stand, I dove in and had everything together in quick order.

My preferred method of figure construction is to assemble everything that can be painted or needs filling ahead of time. This kit is broken down into right and left leg halves, upper torso halves, and lower mid-rise coat tails. The arms are single-piece items, as is the head and boots.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$6.50

The continuing line of people who would say “thanks!” goes around the building, down the street, and across town to Quickboost for providing yet one more of their fast-assembly improvements for AMS modeling… also, thanks go to our tireless IPMS reviewer corps leaders for sending this item my way!

This is a simple, four-barrel set. You may well ask, “So, they have hollow ends… and the Zoukei-Mura (ZM) kit has slide molded barrels that are already hollow”. Or you could say “spend 20 minutes with a #11 knife and thin the walls yourself”. (It’s also a great way to do a blood glucose test on your fingertips…)

Well, that’s what I was thinking until I held these up to the kit items. The kit barrels ARE hollow, but the flash supressors are a bit thicker than the Quickboost items… and the QB flash suppressors are larger and much more refined with VERY thin walls… which is what Quickboost is about; finesse!