50 Cal

A-25A-5-CS Shrike

1st Coat of Paint

Cessna 152

Aft shot of completed kit.

F/A-18C US Navy, Swiss Air Force, Finnish Air Force & Topgun

Completed kit

US Diamond T 969A Wrecker

Left rear high

Flakpanzer IV Ausf.G Wirbelwind with Zimmerit

Mechanic

Vietnam USAF Airfield

Finished

Chinese Navy Type 056 Class Corvette

Top rear view of finished model

M36/M36B2 'Battle of the Bulge'

Machine gun assembly guide

WWII British Vickers MG Crew

8

P-40E Warhawk Royal Class Dual Combo

Previous Next

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.

Product Front

Caracal Modes US Navy / USMC AD-5 Skyraider
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Caracal Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$15.99

Caracal Models has released a second sheet for the 1/48 Revell (Matchbox) AD-5 molds. This sheet includes decals for seven aircraft

  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 133878, VU-1
  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 133893, NAS Los Alamitos
  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 133876, NAS Seattle
  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 132466, VA-125
  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 132442, NAS Anacostia
  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 132447, AES-12, USMC
  • AD-5 Skyraider BuNo 132616, NATF

This is a very colorful sheet, as the airplanes were CONUS based and likely used in training missions, so be prepared to use your international orange paint. Stenciling is provided to build one aircraft.

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

Box Art

F-4B Phantom
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$69.00

Academy's first release in a new series of 1/48 scale Phantoms is an F-4B in VF-111 "Sundowners" markings. There are 15 spectacular sprue with one being clear. The rest are colored to the specific areas of the plane. the bottom parts are white, the top gray and metallic parts black. Panels lines are fine and there are some real innovations. For example, the engine exhausts are molded as a complete tube so there are no seams to fill and they look great. There is also a complete set of weapons with the needed bombs and missiles and a full set of drop tanks.

Package Cover

U.S. Marines AV-8A Harrier Decals
Review Author
Phil Pignataro
Published on
Company
Caracal Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$13.99

When I purchased the new Airfix Harrier GR.1 kit in 1/72 scale, I did so with the intention of building it as the USMC AV-8A Harrier. I planned to cobble together suitable decals from my collection of spares, but didn’t have to when Caracal Models released a sheet just for this very purpose.

Box Art

’37 Ford Coupe Street Rod
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$24.95

Introduction

This is one of the all time great car designs with smooth lines and the free-flowing curves of the fenders. This classic has always been popular with hot rodders. The Revell kit of the ’37 coupe has been issued and re-issued many times, and this is the latest version. This version seems to be mostly a repackaging, as most of the parts and options were available in previous releases.

The kit is showing it’s age with soft detailing, some fit issues, and a completely confusing front suspension. In spite of the shortcomings the kit still builds into a nice hot rod model. The kit would be frustrating for an inexperienced modeler and would be better suited to an avid car modeler.

Kit Contents

Revell’s description:

Box art

Munster's Monster Truck
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$24.99

When I heard we were having all the grandchildren down for Spring Break, I knew it would be a good time to build a kit with my Grandson Parker. Up on the list comes AMT/Round 2's 1/25 Munster's Monster Truck and I snagged it up. Parker was excited about having the chance to build with Grandpa almost as excited as I was and we dove into the kit the day he arrived.

The kit is molded in black with two sprues of chromed parts, instructions, a full set of decals, and the giant tires naturally. This is a full glue kit and includes a lovely decal sheet of Hermann Munster's face that is beautifully printed.