2

P-40E Warhawk Royal Class Dual Combo

Bow

"Q" Ship

Finished model

Messerschmitt Me-262

Assembly

USS Midway Pt 2: Armament & Ancillaries

Parts 19

J2M3 Raiden ‘Jack’ (with Concept Notes)

Wall halves with styrene stiffeners 2

Diorama with Park Wall

Finished 5

Shinmeiwa SS-2 'Rescue Seaplane'

Finished

Beaufort Mk. I

Parts 2

JASDF T-1B Trainer

P-400 3D Printed Parts

Cactus Air Force Deluxe Set – F4F-4 Wildcat and P-400/P-39D Over Guadalcanal

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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.

Image from web site

Harrier FRS 1 Exhaust Nozzles
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$13.50

We continue to express sincere appreciation to our friends at Aires for providing us more of the prolific output of their company; In this case, Harrier FRS-1 nozzles.

Nothing really to state about this upgrade other than “Buy it”. If you have a 1/72 Harrier of the FRS-1 Sea Harrier series, these are “must have” items. I show these items next to the kit items for clarity. Great external detail, and NO SEAM TO FILL!

A drop-fit incorporation of the first order, 10 of 10, well done to Aires and thanks again to IPMS for the review items!

Photo of Model

J7W1 Shinden - Interior and Engine - Part 1
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Zoukei-Mura
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$48.00

Zoukei Mura made a huge splash several years ago with their Shinden, Skyraider and continued the exceptional releases in 1/32 scale. They have now entered the 1/48th scale market with a J7W1 Shinden. Zoukei Mura has a company philosophy of showing all internal detail in their 1/32nd kits to make the kit not only detailed but a learning experience for the modelers. This 1/48th scale kit is no different but I wanted a comparison review to their 1/32nd scale Shinden and decided to build them both at the same time and compare.

Box Art

USS Olympia
Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/240
MSRP
$34.99

The Ship

The USS Olympia was a protected cruiser launched in 1892 with a long and distinguished career that included being Commodore George Dewey's flagship at the misnamed Battle of Manila Bay. Misnamed because it wasn't really a battle. The Spanish squadron never left anchor and the Americans just cruised back and forth shooting them up, even taking time for a lunch break in the middle of the action. She was a flagship in WWI, escorted transports across the North Atlantic and participated in the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War at Murmansk. She brought the remains of the Unknown Soldier from WWI back to the United States and served for a while as a training ship, but was finally decommissioned in 1922. She has the honor of being one of the only ships from this period still afloat along with the Mikasa in Japan and the Aurora in Russia.

Product Package

Weber F-101 Ejection Seat Set
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
True Details
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$10.99

Another beautifully cast set of resin parts to make our models better from our friends at MMD/Squadron; thanks very much to you for providing IPMS USA this review item!

Another of Monogram’s better kits, the F-101B has been re-released in several different guises. Most recently it was released with a new decal sheet and markings, but it’s still the standby F-101B.

As stated before, these seats really make a bid difference between the standard model seats with their molded-on harness. Although the kit seats were more than adequate, this set from True Details takes the illusion of reality a step further. Cast in Gray resin, the seats have fantastic harness detail (I much prefer these to Photoetch; they just look better to me) and the rest of the seat is also upgraded. Easy to install; paint, remove the casting block, and superglue in place.

Package Front

YF-23 - Markings for Both Prototypes
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Caracal Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.99

Hobbyboss released the YF-23 Black Widow kit in 1/48th scale to some fanfare. It is a great kit of a unique subject. IPMS was lucky enough to review it while the kit is great, the decals leave a lot to be desired as far as accuracy. The wing warning labels are black, the tile grids by the intakes are missing and the tail markings are more for a fictitious active fighter. There are also miscellaneous badges missing as well as only having markings for the gray version. The black PAV1 version which briefly wore the red black widow hourglass was not represented at all. Never fear, Kursad Albayraktar and Caracal Models to the rescue with set 48048 which represents both YF-23 prototypes.