Engine Compartment Finished

M42 "Duster"

Right front

P-2H Neptune JMSDF

11

Pz. 38(t) Ausf. E/F with Full Interior

Top Front

JASDF F-15J Eagle

Image 2

Ten Tom's Corolla AE101

Walkaround 2

Fw-190A-5/U12 with Gun Pack

Checkfit

Captured Heinkel, He 111H-20, Part 1

Close-up nancelle and prop

WC-130J Hercules

Me-309 Parts Trees without Detail-up Parts

Me-309V Accessories

Bucket Hydraulics

HMEE-1 (High Mobility Engineer Excavator)

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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.

Box Art

‘67 Chevelle Pro Street
Review Author
Dale Huether
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$25.99

The Kit

Revell has released a nice kit of a 1/25 scale 1967 Chevelle Pro Street that can be built either stock or modified, using parts supplied in the kit. The instructions are well-illustrated, are both easy to read and follow, and contain photos and diagrams that display all the construction steps you will take.

The Build

The first step is to wash the parts in hot, soapy water. There is a lot of mold residue on them from the manufacturing process, and if it is not removed, your paint will have a rough time sticking to the various parts.

Construction begins with the very detailed engine. It can be built two ways – stock or modified. Either way, it consists of multiple parts, some of which are chromed. Moving along, the chassis is similarly detailed, right down to the gas tank. And the interior is also highly detailed – everything is in there, and a careful paint job brings it all out.

Box Art

88mm L71 Flak 41 Anti-Aircraft Gun with crew
Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$66.50

This kit is a combination of the Bronco gun kit and the Dragon 6275 crew kit. The gun can only be presented in the firing position as the travel bogies are not present. The crew can be depicted in either anti-tank mode or anti-aircraft mode. However, the crew instructions included with the Bronco instructions only show them in the anti-tank mode. You can get Dragon 6275 instructions and build the crew in different poses, and even in the anti-aircraft mode, which is what I did.

The basic point to remember when building this kit is that there are numerous small plastic and PE parts. Care should be exercised during the build, and you may even want to delay attaching certain parts until almost the end of the build.

Box Art

Toyota Celica GT Four RC
Review Author
Dale Huether
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$43.99

The Kit

This kit review is for Hasegawa’s Toyota Celica GT Four RC. The kit comes pre-molded in a deep black color and is modeled after European automobiles – and, in fact, Japanese ones, too – in that it is designed for right-handed drive, with the steering wheel and all controls placed on the right side.

The Build

The model went together well, almost like a snap-together. The interior consists of a total of three pieces – two seats, the steering wheel, and a small segment of cloth that is intended to be used as the carpet on the flooring. There is no motor to build, because there is no place to put the motor beneath the hood. The chassis is equally simple, consisting of a total of 4 pieces with minimal detail. The interior was painted gray.

Parts Package

Tu-144 Landing Gear
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$16.95

I recently built and reviewed ICM’s 1/144 Tupolev Tu-144 "Charger". When the opportunity came to review the SAC metal landing gear for this plane, I jumped at the chance.

The white metal landing gear is obviously far stronger and better suited to large models than the injection molded parts you get in a kit. I have a number of finished models on the shelf or in storage which could use a new set of gear legs. And I thought I’d save the Tu-144 from this fate. There’s only so much you can do with CA and sprue to fix broken gear, especially with missing parts.

I first took photos of the landing gear on the model as it was. There might be a set of instructions for the kit somewhere in my workroom. Or not. I bet on the latter, and took reference photos to show where the parts went.

Box Art

F6F-5 Hellcat “Pacific Aces”
Review Author
Jeffrey Brown
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$53.00

I recently received the Hasegawa 1/48 scale F6F-5 Hellcat “Pacific Aces” version. This is a very nice kit, and I was actually impressed by the details, especially in the cockpit. From my research, this is a re-release of their previous F6F-5 with a new set of decals covering a few late war aces. The two planes you have the option to build are ‘White 115’ of VF-83 from the USS Essex which was actually flown by three different Ensigns (Donald McPherson, Bill Kingston Jr. and Lyttleton Ward), and ‘White 12’ of VF-31 from the USS Cabot flown by Lt. J.G. Ray Hawkins.