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.

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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.

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Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Polar Lights
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$28.00

Round 2 Models and Polar Lights have re-released The Jetsons Capsule Car with figures. This boxing only includes George Jetson and Astro. The figures are pre-painted and they look very nice. The clear capsule is very transparent and free of scratches due to careful packing. It does have a small “pimple” on the top, probably part of the molding process.

This kit is a snap-together model, and the overall fit and ease of assembly is excellent. If you go OOB, and don’t want to paint it, you could have it ready for display (or playing) in less than 15 minutes.

During assembly I found a few minor gaps in the capsule car ‘fins.’ It was a matter of 10 minutes with putty and sanding sticks to take care of them. I decided to paint the interior and exterior of the capsule car, as well as the moon base. The overall breakdown of the kit made painting very easy with minimal masking.

Review Author
Anthony Tvaryanas
Published on
Company
Meng Model
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.99

The T-90A Main Battle Tank is currently the most modern tank in service with Russian ground forces. Although a development of the T-72, the tank consists of a 125mm 2A46M-5 smoothbore gun, a pair of auxiliary machine guns and Russia’s Shtora-1 combined electro-optical countermeasures suite to protect the tank against laser-guided weapons. It entered service in 2005, replacing the aging T-72s and T-80s and forming the backbone of current Russian ground forces.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$29.95

This product is a prepainted photoetched flight deck section from a US carrier between 1942 and 1944. It is made of a fairly heavy gauge brass. It partly includes one of the hangar deck lifts in the full up position. It has good texture showing the planking on the deck, the tiedown strips and the metal areas surrounding the lift, as well as some of the deck markings for the carrier. The painting gives a realistic replication of the wood grain on the deck planks and is of the early war natural wood coloring. The surface has a slight sheen, and to be more realistic, it should have a light coat of flat clear sprayed on. The deck section is big enough for a small naval aircraft, and would probably be okay with a Hellcat or a Corsair. It measures 4 3/8 x 5 1/4 inches or approximately 111 x 133 millimeters. It will make a very effective display that can be completed quickly by simply gluing it to an appropriately sized base. Highly recommended.

Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.50

The Product

These highly detailed engines are a great way to enhance your next build. They are a drop in replacement for the kit parts. My samples were beautifully cast, and flawless. The engine’s pushrod tubes are not included in the casting, but locating holes for the pushrod tubes are present for those modelers wishing to add them. I highly recommend these babies to anyone wanting to upgrade the Revell PV-1 Ventura.

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for allowing me to present these samples.

Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Wingnut Wings, Ltd
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$79.00

The Build (Continued)

The assembled engine dropped in place with little drama…but, because of the rather complex way the engine, engine bay framing and multi-part cowling align with the fuselage, I first carefully dry-fitted everything (and temporarily taped parts in place) to make sure there were no gaps between panel lines. Doing this also ensured that the front of the engine was centered in the opening in the cowl front. I cemented the engine in place and removed the engine panels to make the necessary adjustments as called out in the instructions.