Adding Rear Armor Plating

T-34/85 "No. 112 Factory Production"

4

Mercedes-Benz 600S

Sprue Diagram

U-2C Dragon Lady Early/Late Model

Decals

Hermes A1 US Test Rocket

Figure Body

RAF Pilot in Tropical Clothing (WWII)

Return wheels installed

British Nuffield Assault Tank A.T.3

Sprue C

AFV Valentine Mk.III w/Rotatrailer

Right side of Wespe

German Self-Propelled Howitzer - Wespe "Italian Front"

Masking

USN F-14A VF-2 "Bounty Hunters"

Cab Assembly

HMEE-1 (High Mobility Engineer Excavator)

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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.

Profiles

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
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.

Instructions

US Navy Albatross (Early Types - HU-16C & UF-1)
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.

Herman box art

Herman Munster and Grandpa Munster
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.

Parts Supplied

Metal Landing Gear for Airfix Sea Harrier FRS-1, FA-2, GR-3 Harrier
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

Thanks to Ross at SAC for yet another outstanding metal gear set; IPMS USA are pleased to receive the support from your contributions!

This set is, the usual, a simple drop-in replacement for the kit items. The set contains a compressed oleo main gear strut, a two-part nose gear, and the retraction strut for the nose gear.

Not much to say; use superglue to assemble; they fit perfectly, and impress with strength and “peace of mind” with attaching wheels/tires to the axles.

As usual, SAC landing gear are an excellent investment. The Harrier, in particular, is noteworthy for having the fragile plastic gear on most kits breaking off during handling; not so with SAC gear!

Thanks again to Ross and SAC for continuing their line of strong metal gear!

Package

Dropper (Glue Applicator)
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Eduard
MSRP
$9.95

Eduard Models is releasing some very useful tools for the modelers, like this glue applicator, dropper or kapátko (probably in Czech as it is written in the package).

This photoetch fret has a total of 10 applicators. The “jaws” in the applicator comes in two sizes, small and smaller glue drop. The two sizes of drops make this tool useful for different scales or different applications. Each applicator has its own engraved grip for better handling.

I can see this tool being extremely useful while working with photoetch parts (from Eduard, what else!) and it would prevent that ‘blob’ of superglue that we all have dealt with in our builds.

Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Eduard and IPMS/USA for the review sample.