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
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Plusmodel
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$5.00

The mines come packaged in a clear cellophane with a cardboard insert to help protect them. They are produced in grey resin. The level of detail is nice with a minimal amount of clean-up required The set comes with eight mines and decals. Care will be needed when you remove the pour stubs. The reason for this is the handles on the mines are very delicate. I had a few that were broke when I received the package. You could also replace them with brass wire to give them added strength.

This set would make a great addition to a diorama with German pioneers, or just added to a vehicle as cargo. I would like to thank PlusModel and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this kit.

Book Author(s)
Chris Goss
Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$19.95

The Following Text is a Historical Perspective from the Publisher.

As the Battle of Britain came to a close, the Luftwaffe began arming its single-engine fighters with bombs, using them in preference to twin-engine bombers against many daylight targets. Two units were designated for these Jagdbomber (literally fighter-bomber) attacks – 10/JG 26. Their targets included shipping and coastal installations, railways, gas holders and selected military and civilian objectives. The detrimental effect on British morale caused by these ‘Tip and Run’ attacks was devastating.

How could the British military combat the raids effectively? How could the local populations cope? Questions were asked in Parliament but no effective answer was supplied. The locals lived in fear of where and when the next attack would occur.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
AK Interactive
MSRP
$8.95

AK Interactive has a selected set of pigments (sold individually) known as the “AK Pigment Colors. There are 9 colors and they are the most used pigment shades for weathering models.

You still can get some other specific shade for that special project you have in your workbench, but most of the time, those 9 colors would suffice. (You can see the full list at https://ak-interactive.com/product-category/paints/ak-weathering-paints/).

This series of colors are bottled in larger (35 ml) flip-top bottles with the expectation of being used as “regular” weathering supplies.

One of them is the “dark steel” pigment, which will find its way into many vehicles, armor, ships and aircraft workbench. It is very finely grinded and it can be applied with an old paintbrush.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Minicraft Model Kits
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$69.99

The wonderful folks at Minicraft Models deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new and unusual subjects to the scale modeling community. The IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps also deserves thanks for giving me the kit to review. I am only one member of a large staff in the Reviewer Corps, and I appreciate all the tireless team and individual work that goes into getting the material out to be reviewed and the finished write-ups published.

The Martin PBM-5A Mariner was a gull wing, twin-engine flying boat operated primarily by the U. S. Navy during WWII. The Mariner operated alongside its better known sister flying boat, the PBY Catalina. The PBM-5A was a tricycle amphibian, with prominent nose, dorsal and tail gun turrets, fixed wing floats, and twin tails. The Mariner had bomb bays nestled in the engine nacelles on the high wing and a distinctive dorsal radome just aft of the cockpit.

Review Author
Andrew Fuller
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/96
MSRP
$17.99

The U.S.Moon Ship is Round 2 Models first release, after having been originally released by Lindberg Models in 1958. It was subsequently re-released a couple more times in the decades that followed and was based on space flight concepts of the era.

The kit is pretty simple and straight forward consisting of only 41 pieces, including 1 transparent red sprue and 2 sprues molded in white in addition to the main components of the space craft. There is an easy to follow instruction sheet, and 1 sheet of decals.

The build was simple and quick, and other than some minor issues with getting the large star decals to conform to the shape of the hull, it was an enjoyable endeavor having been completed in two evenings at the "bench".

I would most certainly recommend this kit to a novice builder or anyone wanting a quik build that produces satisfying results. The kit would make a great parent/child project or "group build" project.