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 Hinderliter
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.00

Quickboost has added the seat for the P-51D Mustang to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble-free. The seat is molded in one piece and is easy to remove from the mold block.

The package doesn’t state that it is for any particular kit, so it should work well with any of the P-51D Mustang kits. I compared it with the Tamiya kit’s seat. Talk about a noticeable difference – the detail on the Quickboost part is outstanding. From the photos you can see that the Quickboost seat has the belts molded , and you can almost feel the seat material in the cushion under the belts. You will definitely want to have the canopy open for this.

Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

Here’s another fine replacement landing gear set from SAC, this time for the new Kinetic Goshawk. The white metal parts are a spot-on match for the kit gear. In situations where the weight of the model could lead to overstressed and broken gear, these sets are a lifesaver (the life of the model, that is). All relevant parts are there, including both the compressed and extended nose gear struts.

A few of the smaller, thinner pieces in the package I received were slightly bent, but were easily returned to their proper shape. That just shows that care must be taken when handling some of those more delicate thin pieces, but unlike plastic, they are more easily reshaped when necessary before they reach the breaking point.

All told, another very worthy effort from Scale Aircraft Conversions. Thanks to SAC and IPMS for the review sample.

Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
Company
Kinetic Model Kits
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$63.95

With the release several years ago of the Italeri and Airfix quarter-scale BAE Hawk kits, many of us U.S naval aviation fans wondered if we would finally see a mainstream kit of the T-45 Goshawk. Following on their other notable naval air kits, Kinetic Model Kits now offers this very detailed rendition of the Navy’s newest intermediate/advanced jet trainer.

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$11.65

Model Art Modeling Magazine is a Japanese publication that is released monthly. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. The magazines’ striking feature is the high quality of the photographs showing the models used.

This issue has two feature articles instead of just one, as normal. The first article covers the Pz.Kpfw. IV. They use models of an Ausf. D by Tamiya, Ausf. F2(G) by Dragon, Ausf. H early by Tamiya, and an Ausf. J late production. These are all 1/35th scale. Within the article, they go over how to improve these models, along with a breakdown of German gray between three different paint manufacturers (Mr. Color, Tamiya enamels, and Vallejo). The last part of the article consists of photos of a Pz. IV Ausf. J. in a museum, along with line drawings of some of the differences between versions.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$8.99

Master Model has produced a replacement nose pitot for the Trumpeter MiG-21 F-13 Fishbed kit. The replacement pitot is a clean drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include a two-piece main pitot tube of turned stainless and photo etch brass vane fins.

A side-by-side evaluation (see photos) indicates an identical replacement that provides a much more realistic assembly with a significantly improved abuse tolerance. Painting of the main tube should not be necessary, but the fins will need a quick touch with silver or red to transform the brass. Check your references