Finished - 1

1969 Dodge Charger – Dukes of Hazzard General Lee – Snap Kit

Side View

FW-190A Night Fighter

Hindenburg Complete 1

Hindenburg

Completed 5

Lockheed F-94C Starfire

Engine

KrAZ-255b

Aircraft from front.

Bachem Ba-349 Natter M52/M58

Engine bay assembly

H-19 Rescue Helicopter

Finished

X-15A-2 White Ablative Coating

Completed left side

SP-2H Neptune "New Patrol Scheme" Limited Edition

Flap Fix 2

F6F-5 Hellcat, Part 2

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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.

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Cover

Model Art Modeling Magazine, #877, 1/700th Scale Ship Model Database 2
Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$22.00

This is one of Model Art Modeling Magazine’s special editions. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles. One plus about these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

Are you a fan of 1/700th scale IJN waterline models? Are you looking for that one particular kit? Well, you may be in luck with this special issue released by Model Art Magazine.

Aires Photo of Detail Parts

T-28 Trojan Exhausts and Cooling Flaps
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$8.50

Quickboost and Aires add to their enhancement parts for Roden's 1/48 T-28 series with this set designed to replace the exhausts and cooling flaps on the sides and bottom of the cowling.

The set is perfectly cast. To use, you cut the parts off of the casting blocks. Make sure to cut a little extra and sand back to the kit part. All the parts are drop-in replacements, so simply glue them in place. I included a shot of the Quickboost parts next to the kits parts. The kit parts are a little thick, and you’ll notice those large ejection pin marks on the cooling flaps. Also, you can see that Quickboost has hollowed out the exhausts while Roden's are solid and should be drilled out.

This is another set needed for the Roden kit. The drilled-out exhausts and more-to-scale flaps will be noticeable and make the kit better. Highly recommended. My thanks to Quickboost/Aires and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review these items.

Aires Photo of Detail Parts

USAF Flightline Tool Cabinet (Roll Cab), 9 Drawers
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Aerobonus
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$10.00

With many of the new kits coming out, there have been a few excellent mechanic figures included, either in the kits or as aftermarket. It never occurred to me until this release that what was missing was a tool chest. A mechanic needs his tools, doesn’t he? Aerobonus to the rescue with a rolling 9-drawer tools chest which has the Snap On logo, too.

The kit is simplicity itself, with the main tool chest being a single part only needing the casting block sanded off. The four wheels and a handle are on a single sprue and easily detached and added. The color is Snap On Red and is close to insignia red, which I used. The silver parts were painted and then touched up, and I also distressed the kit a little with some scrapes and scratches here and there. The decal sheet contains a part number and the Snap On logo. There are also labels for each of the drawers if you choose to use them. I flat-coated the kit and touched up the silver with a silver pencil.

Aires Photo of Assembled Item

USAF 150 Gallon Fuel Bowser
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Aerobonus
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$20.00

Aerobonus is part of Aires and has consistently come out with great items for dioramas for kits in multiple scales. In this kit, Aerobonus provides a 150 gallon USAF Fuel Bowser which is used to reclaim the fuel planes have left over in their tanks after they’ve landed.

The kit comes with 14 resin parts and five small photoetch parts. Construction started by removing the casting blocks. They are large on the two tanks, and time spent here sanding them is worthwhile. The frame was next, and then the small parts. I added the two tanks to the frame, wincing at a few broken straps on the tank bottoms. They are fragile and broke during shipment. They were replaced with Evergreen strip.

I added the axle next, and then added the reel on the front, and also added the two tires temporarily. Once these were on, the front tire/jack stand was added to the front using the back tires to get the spacing correct. I added some line and the PE valve knobs and clips to the front.

Detail Parts

T-28 Trojan Wheel Wells
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$26.50

Aires has continued its releases for the Roden T-28 family with a wheel well set. Included in the set are 9 large resin pieces in the standard firm gray Aires resin, and also a small fret of retractions parts which has around a dozen pieces. There is no photoetch with this set.

The first thing to note is that this set gives you ALL the replacement landing gear doors – 9 in total, which are superbly thin and have great structure on their insides. The kit doors have some roughness that the Aires set does not.

The front and rear wheel wells have much more detail than the kit parts, with better framing and detail. The big difference for me in this set is that the kit has some really tough-to-fix ejection pin marks, and the resin does not have any at all. Between the detail and no ejection marks, that is a great start to recommending this kit.