Radar Antennas 2

Dornier D0-335 B-6 Pfeil Night Fighter

Assembly

Hurricane Mk llB

Fuselag

F-4B Phantom, Part 1 - Wow!

Tail

Heinkel He-219 Uhu

Right Side

M4A3E8 Korean War Sherman

Interior 2

'48 Ford Police Coupe 2'n1

Backhoe Arm

HMEE-1 (High Mobility Engineer Excavator)

Finished 3

Avia BK.534 Czechoslovak Biplane Fighter

10

Model T 1914 Fire Truck with Crew

Closeup

Titanic & LED Set

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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

Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 34, Issue 10
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Modelling
MSRP
$7.00

Scale Aircraft Modelling is an excellent monthly publication focusing on modeling scale aircraft. No surprise there. And if you are a long-time fan of SAM, then it is also no surprise that I state that SAM is one of the best modeling magazines focused on aircraft that money can buy. Averaging just under 100 pages, SAM is filled with build articles featuring some of the newer kits on the market, as well as projects based on old favorites.

Many modelers associate a jungle diorama with an armor subject, but in this issue in “Jungle Juice,” James Ashton builds the Fine Molds 1/48th scale Ohka and puts it “in the jungle”. View the image labeled Content Sample B to see one of the pages in this article. James shared the materials used in the construction of the jungle and focuses on that aspect of the project rather than construction of the Ohka itself.

Cover

Republic F-105 Thunderchief
Book Author(s)
Peter Davies
Review Author
Bart Cusumano
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$18.95

Originally designed as a nuclear response aircraft, the F-105 Thunderchief was always one of my favorite jet propelled fighter/bomber aircraft from the Vietnam war. Its sleek and aggressive lines and large presence were quite intimidating and left no doubt as to its mission in life. The Thud compiled a distinguished service record, flying over 20,000 combat missions by the end of the war and proving to be a rugged and capable aircraft in the Republic tradition. However, despite its durability, losses were heavy, with over 330 F-105s lost in the skies of Southeast Asia.

Osprey’s latest title in their Air Vanguard series is Republic F-105 Thunderchief. Although I refer to the Vietnam war above, it is just one of six sections of this interesting and insightful read:

Box Art

USS Fort Worth – LCS-3
Review Author
Tom Pope
Published on
Company
Cyber-Hobby
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$30.00

Introduction

The US Navy's third littoral combat ship (LCS), the USS Ft. Worth was just commissioned in late September, 2012 – a mere few weeks after Dragon released this kit. Designated LCS-3, the Ft. Worth is a single V-hull, and the second of the Freedom class LCS ship. LCS ships are sleek and fast, make a small radar target, and can maneuver close to the shore in only 20 feet of water. Dragon's LCS-3 Smart Kit is an excellent representation of the LCS class ship, in a small size and with excellent detail, that can be displayed just about anywhere.

Parts Package

Wessex UH.5/HU.5 Landing Gear
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.95

This is a simple upgrade, consisting of four items (both struts and two steps); it improves on the kit items by a major factor in that you don’t have to glue what is a basic triangle with an angle as the kit would have you do – see the comparison picture below, where the kit-supplied oleo strut is separate from the torsion strut. On the real aircraft, this provides dual purpose action in that it dampens impact with the ground without causing the aircraft to rebound, which could result in really bad things with moving rotor blades.

(This was changed on some versions by using an “A” frame strut, replacing the torsion bar completely. This is the version Revell used for their release from 1987. I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of this modification, but it’s obviously a bit more sturdy.)

Parts Package

MiG-29 Fulcrum A Landing Gear
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.95

SAC continues its prolific output of gear to handle the loads on our models Thanks to Russ at SAC for providing IPMS USA this set, and IPMS for sending it to me for review!

This set improves on Revell’s 1/32 MiG-29 Fulcrum A’s items in two ways – it has both main gear strut halves combined into one item, so there is no seam to fill (a bit of a swipe with wet/dry emery board after scraping the almost imperceptible mold line, and you are done), and it adds structural rigidity to a kit requiring it due to sheer size and weight. This is particularly true if you use a lot of resin aftermarket, which the Revell MiG- 29 needs to bring it up to standard.

Besides the main gear, three actuator struts and one nose gear with separate side braces are included, all necessary as previously noted.

Once again, no concern of collapsing gear within a year after I finish the model.

Highly recommended and well done to SAC for yet another winner!