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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
Fred Wilms
Published on
Company
Plusmodel
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$4.40

Items in the box: The model is made from cast resin, gray in color. The plans are one sheet.

Construction: The build is very basic – six pieces all told, two cans. four handles, assembled per sketch. (As the label says, EASY line.)

Finish: I used gray spray auto primer for the cans and ModelMaster brown for the top of one can.

Conclusion: The parts went together well. The kit build can be done by any model builder with minimum experience. Care must be taken, as the handles are tiny.

I would like to thank IPMS/USA and Plusmodels for allowing me to build and review this kit.

Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$29.00

In a surprise offering, one of Tamiya’s newest models is the Simca 5 Staff Car (German Army). Henri Theodore Pigozzi, an Italian-born Frenchman, founded a car company that had a close relationship to Fiat. The Simca 5 was the French version of the best seller, the Fiat 500. Production figures (65,000 manufactured from 1936 until the fall of France), indicate that this was a very popular car. Once French industry was absorbed by the German war machine, small scale production continued until 1944. In typical German fashion, given their dearth of staff cars, the Wehrmacht adapted many of these diminutive automobiles as staff cars.

Review Author
Jack Kennedy
Published on
Company
Platz
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$29.00
  • Platz T-33A JASDF Trainer, stock no. AC-6, $29.00
  • Platz T-33A US Bicentennial Trainer, stock no. AC-8, $29.00
  • Eduard T-33 cockpit set, SA, color, stock no. 73409, $29.95

This is going to be a strange review in that I am reviewing two of the same kit but with different markings. In addition, I will be reviewing the Eduard photo-etch cockpit detail set.

Let me begin with the T-33A. This is one terrific kit. I have built a few T-33s by different manufacturers, but this is the best, in my humble opinion. When I refer to any parts in the kit, I am addressing both kits.

The instructions are in both English and Japanese. They are well thought out and very clear. Colors are referred to by their FS numbers. There are 58 grey plastic parts and one clear.

Book Author(s)
Nico Braas and Srecko Bradic
Review Author
Walt Fink
Published on
Company
Lanasta
MSRP
$20.65

This Dutch publication from Violaero by authors Nico Braas and Srecko Bradic is chock-full of photos and detail drawings of Martin’s PBM in all its variants. They managed to pack a lot of good information into its 48 pages, with several photos which were new to me – and I’m a real Mariner fan.

Book Author(s)
Thierry Dekker (translated from French by Neil Page)
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
Company
Landscape Publications
MSRP
$35.50

This is the first in a new series of books by Landscape Publications. The series is built around highly-detailed profiles, with supporting text and photos. This particular volume is broken down into two sections: Insignia & Nose Art (featuring American Indian artwork & emblems), and Hangar Special (featuring P-47s of the 19th Fighter Squadron on Saipan).

This publication seems to fall somewhere between a book and an extremely high-quality magazine. I say this because the subjects in the two sections are completely different, and are presented as though they are separate articles in a magazine. The unifying feature is the profile artwork (hence the title). I assume future volumes will have a similar format, and it is possible they will each have the same two sections.