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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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Review Author
Ben Guenther
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$21.50

Aires with this detail set has provided the modeler with the means to upgrade the 1/72 Su-27UB Trumpeter kit. This resin accessory kit comes with eight resin parts that will assembly into two exhaust nozzles and one small piece of photo-etch that has two afterburner rings, one for each nozzle. The resin is typical for Aires being fine grain and flash free. The photo-etch looks to be stainless steel; at least no bending is required in this case.

Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
Company
Meng Model
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$59.95

Meng exploded onto the modeling scene several years ago and has begun to roll out a variety of post-World War Two vehicles. The AMX-30B is one of Meng’s newest releases and it’s a keeper. Of the same generation of the US M-60 series, this was meant as a multi-national tank serving the needs of France and Germany. Germany dropped out of the project. The prototype was ready in 1960 and went into series production in 1966. Over 4000 were manufactured and exported around the world. It saw service in Desert Shield/Storm and continues to serve in other countries. The kit is composed of seven sprues molded in green and five sprues of track links and pads molded in brown, a small sprue of clear parts, a small fret of photoetch, and a lower hull and turret. There are decals for two vehicles. There are a total of 730 parts.

Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Xuntong
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$59.95

The Tupolev TU-2 was introduced into service in 1942 and produced as several variants to include a high speed bomber, dive-bomber, interceptor, recon and as represented in this review kit, a torpedo bomber. The TU-2T torpedo bomber began it service in early 1945 with overall production of the TU-2 continuing until 1948. Russia retired the TU-2 in 1950 but sold many of them to other nation's air forces. China used the TU-2 until the late 1970’s.

Review Author
Jack Kennedy
Published on
Company
Riich Models
Scale
1/200
MSRP
$52.99

Ships are not something I normally model but I jumped at the chance to review this submarine. It is by a new company from Hong Kong and if this kit is a sample of things to come, I am surely looking forward to their future releases.

To begin with, I was thinking 1/700 or 1/350 scale when I asked to review this kit. It is in 1/200 scale and is rather long, 19 inches to be exact. The packaging is in a large sturdy box and the parts are molded in light grey plastic on 5 sprues. There is one sprue of clear parts for the OS2U-3 Kingfisher and two in black for the base.

Review Author
Mike Kellner
Published on
Company
Moebius Models
Scale
1/87
MSRP
$44.99

This HO scale rendition of Mel’s Drive-In from the movie, American Graffiti, comes with a colorful and attractive box art. It’s a multi-media kit, with the exterior structure in plastic, but with the interior supplied on pre-printed card stock. The instructions are easy to follow and consist of 7 steps.

The suggested colors are listed, but are basic, such as white, grey, and brick red. After a little online research I found an interior shot which I used for reference. The research indicated that the diner had a black and white floor. I simulated this by painting the floor white, then using black decal trim film for the tiles.