4

Luftwaffe Airfield Equipment

Right side

APA-50M (ZiL-131)

Cockpit 2

Hunter F.6/FGA.9 Aerobatic Teams

Rear view

Lil Hot Dogger

T34 Seam

Battle of Berlin (April 1945) T-34-85, King Tiger Kit

Karl Chassis Top

60/54cm Morser Karl w/Munitionspanzer IV Limited Edition

Engraved detail

MiG-25 PU

Box Bottom

DeHavilland DH-112 Venom NF.3

Engine detail

Hanomag RL-20

Underside

WWII RAF Airfield

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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.

Box Art

Mars Attacks Martian Warrior
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Moebius Models
MSRP
$39.99

Mars Attacks! Most people will first remember 1996 Tim Burton film. it really started as a trading card series released in 1962 by Topps (the baseball card people). It became the most popular non-sport series ever. Mr. Burton kept the Martians in the film very similar to the trading cards and Moebius has duplicated that in this kit.

The kit consists of 43 gray parts and 2 clear parts for the Martians helmet. The kit has a nicely detail base with toasted human on it, a lamp post and a Martian warrior straddling the corpse. The kit assembles in four parts- the base, the victim, the lamp post, and our Martian.

Front Cover

US Flamethrower Tanks of World War II
Book Author(s)
Steven J. Zaloga
Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$17.95

The idea of flamethrower tanks came about towards the end of WWI. Even though the US Army was not really sure if this was a platform that they wanted to pursue they still had the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) work on its development. For most of the interwar years there was not much development as this type of weapon was actually considered a failure. There was a renewed interest at the outbreak of World War II based on reports of German and Italian tank mounted flamethrowers. The real need for the flamethrower tank came from the Pacific campaign. There the usefulness of routing out the enemy from fortified positions on the islands become a backbone operation for the flamethrower tank. Thus also saving countless lives of soldiers. The US Army flamethrower tank was used sparingly in the ETO. Mainly due to the lack of platforms and fortified positions as encountered in the Pacific.

Primer & Thinner

AK Interactive Primer and Thinner (60 ml bottles)
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
AK Interactive
MSRP
$10.85

Note on MSRP: Primer is $10.85, Thinner is $8.95.

AK Interactive is clearly one of the specialty brands in the world of modelling. From high quality finishing and weathering products to high quality primers, they are all about “the perfect finish” for your model.

The grey primer is an excellent all-round primer, which provides a smooth coverage to plastic parts and it airbrushes really well. Their thinner, to be used sparingly from my own experience as I had a few runs, improves airbrushing quality and it can be used to thin paints from other brands, like Tamiya, Vallejo or Lifecolor paints. I’ve personally tried with Tamiya and it thinned and improved the flow of the paint like a charm.

A killer paint job starts with a good surface and a good surface finish is prepared for painting by the use of a good primer. Give these products a try and you won’t be disappointed. I know I will be using them in a regular basis.

Box art

U.S.S. Boxer - LHD-4

Review Author
Tom Pope
Published on
Company
Hobby Boss
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$64.99

Introduction

The USS Boxer, LHD-4, is the fourth of the Wasp class amphibious assault ship line. She entered service in 1995 and spent several years deployed to the Western Pacific. After 9/11, the Boxer has deployed to the Persian Gulf several times and recently served as the flagship of Combined Task Force 151, fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia. She participated in the activities surrounding the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips of the container ship Maersk Alabama. After Capt. Phillips was rescued he was taken to the Boxer for medical treatment and rest.

In February 2013, HobbyBoss released a very precise rendition of the USS Boxer in a 1/700th scale kit. I would like to thank MMD/Squadron for providing this kit to IPMS USA for review.

Box Art

Kawasaki C-1 Combo (2 Kits) Limited Edition
Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/200
MSRP
$39.99

The Kawasaki C-1 began development in 1966 to replace the JASDF C-46 fleet. It went into service in 1974, and is still serving today.

Before we start, I’ll let you know that this is not a motorcycle kit. It is an aircraft. I am sorry to disappoint, but just wanted to clear the air before I went any farther.

This kit includes two complete aircraft, consisting of four sprues per plane, for a total of eight sprues in the box. On the decal sheet there are enough markings that you can build any two out 25 airframes. You will need to check your references as the instructions call out one airframe in three different schemes. One of the decal options is for a 50th anniversary of the JASDF scheme.