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.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/12
MSRP
$16.50

One in a series of kits featuring “office furniture and school furniture”, this kit is the most difficult of the five “furniture” items recently reviewed. Even at that, the difficulty factor is very low. The “difficulty” focuses on the small parts found on the officer chair. Note in the attached images that each coaster on the chair is a single piece, and they are fairly small. Beyond the difficulty resulting from the small size of the coasters this kit, like the others in this series is “fit, snap, done!”

Hasegawa advertises that this kit does not require glue, and I found that to be true. I took the time remove the nubs after removing the parts from the sprues, but that was more out of habit than necessity. Those who are more advanced modelers will probably feel better if they remove the attachment nibs with a sanding stick, but it is not critical to the “fit” of the parts.

One gets parts sufficient for one desk and one chair.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$13.00

Eduard has issued Remove before Flight tags before out of colored photoetch. This new set capitalizes on the new fabric material along with their photoetch components. This set is for 1/32 scale planes and has one sheet of fourteen fabric tags with two styles- one with a square end and one with a tapered end. The photoetch fret contains two types of attachment hangers.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Caracal Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.99

Caracal Models has released a sheet for the 1/48 Kitty Hawk F-35. This decal set includes two sheets with markings for 2 USMC, one 1 US Navy, 2 USAF and 1 RAF aircraft for a total of 6 airframes.

The options on this decal sheet are:

  • F-35B BuNo 168059, VMFAT-501, US Marine Corps
  • F-35B BuNo 168718, VMFA-121, US Marine Corps
  • F-35B BF-05, VX-23 Strike Test, US Navy
  • F-35B ZM137, Royal Air Force
  • F-35A 08-0746, 58th FS, USAF
  • F-35A 10-5009, USAF

They all are in the “F-35 Gray”, which seems to be FS 36170. No manufacturers have that color in their line (as of April 2014) so you are recommended to use “Dark Slate Grey” as a close alternative. The decal sheet includes airframe stencils for one aircraft.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Caracal Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.99

Caracal Models has released a sheet for the 1/48 Trumpeter Albatross SA-16A. This decal set includes three sheets with markings for a total of 6 airframes.

The options on this decal sheet are:

  • US Navy UF-1 Albatross, NAS Norfolk
  • US Navy HU-16C Albatross, NASU Naha, Japan
  • US Navy HU-16C Albatross, NASU Iwakuni, Japan
  • US Navy UF-1 Albatross, US Naval Attache to Oslo
  • US Navy UF-1 Albatross, NAS Whidbey Island
  • US Navy UF-1T Albatross, USNA - Annapolis

The selection of markings is excellent. From typical “utility” schemes, to SAR –with yellows and oranges, and even one that was used by the diplomatic corps in Norway, you will have one (or more) that you would like to use.

Being a Cartograf decal sheet you know you’ll get good quality, thin, and opaque decals. They are very glossy on the sheet and have very little transparent carrier film around them, minimizing the chances for silvering.

Review Author
Mike Hoekstra
Published on
Company
Moebius Models
Scale
1/9
MSRP
$34.99

Mention “The Munsters” and instantly the vision of an odd family on Mockingbird Lane comes to mind. Fortunately Moebius has introduced two new kits to bring the 60’s family icons of Herman and Grandpa to life in a pair of kits that combine to make a nice diorama of the duo. Moebius also did a great job with the sculpts, bringing the likenesses of Fred Gwynn and Al Lewis to life.