Slack dome bag properly shaped

Sea King AEW.2 Falklands War

Finished Left Rear

F6F-5 Hellcat, Part 2

Assembled and painted aircraft - left, above

CM.170 Magister

I-15 Stern

Imperial Japanese Navy Submarine I-15/I-46

Lower hull with suspension assembled

Soviet T-64 Mod 1972

Finished

Beechcraft T-34A Mentor

Amra Hobby P-39N Airacobra side view

P-39N Airacobra

Misc Image 7

WWII Wehrmacht Infantry Set

Completed front

M4A3E2 'Jumbo'

Gear door comparison - 2015 version (left) vs. 2005 version (right)

MiG-21F-13 Fishbed C

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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.

Airbrush

Badger Renegade Krome Airbrush
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Badger Airbrush Company
MSRP
$189.95

From time to time, one gets the opportunity to review a finely crafted and indispensable item such as an airbrush. Badger recently provided a copy of the “Renegade Krome,” along with an assortment of Badger acrylic paint to IPMS/USA, and it, indeed, is an excellent airbrush.

First, there is a treasure trove of information on the Badger website about the Krome, including an informative and excellent video. To view this video, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JBaqBK1kU4&feature=youtu.be

Cover

SciFi & Fantasy Modeller Vol. 25
Review Author
Dave Steingass
Published on
Company
Happy Medium Press
MSRP
$29.95

This is the first issue of SciFi and Fantasy Modeller I have had the privilege to review. Since first seeing the review in the IPMS/USA Journal on Happy Medium's “The Steampunk Modeller” and getting my hands on this issue, I have subscribed to the publication and purchased “The Steampunk Modeller” vols. 1 and the upcoming vol. 2, as well as the special issue “Exercises in Iimagination and Scratchbuilding” . You could say I have become a fan.

This issue is 98 pages in full color, and includes 13 articles within those pages. The largest and most important article is, of course, the cover story about Moebius' new 29" long movie version of the Seaview submarine from the 1961 film “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” There are actually 2 articles in this issue about the Seaview sub, the second being about the making of the Moebius kit based on the filming miniature from the television series of the same name, but more on those articles when we get to them.

Parts Package

PV-1 Ventura Cockpit
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
True Details
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$18.99

Outstanding detail, great support of the plastic modeling community, etc… all apply to Squadron Mail order and MMD distributors. We at IPMS/USA appreciate and thank you for providing us items to review!

When I purchased the Revell Ventura kit, I thought, “wow, a decent, out of box build even I can sink the ol’ teeth into…” I did not know that True Details was working to upgrade the kit…and, with this cockpit, the detail level went up.

The major items replaced are the instrument panel, throttle/fuel mixture quadrant panel, the basic floorboard, back bulkhead, seats, and middle “island” instrument and switch panel. There are also two side fuselage panels that replace the truly understated sidewall detail in the cockpit. Several kit parts are required: the seat legs for the right-hand seat, control wheel arms to attach the control yokes, and the lower steps to the forward fuselage.

Box Art

Metal Fence
Review Author
Dave Steingass
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$9.99

This kit consists of 4 identical sprues molded in light grey styrene and containing 140 parts and a double-sided instruction sheet, which is vital, since the kit has so many options.

4 different configurations of fence and gate options are given in the instructions, but you can make any combination of those options with the available parts. I would highly recommend studying the rear of the box art and the instruction sheet to get the most out of this versatile kit.

Absolutely no flash or warpage was present on any of the parts, which is typical of Miniart's excellent injection molding process. Very fine mold lines are present, and they are quite noticeable on the rounded parts, so a thorough sanding of every piece is highly recommended for the best finish.

Box Art

GAZ-MM Model 1941 1.5 Ton Cargo Truck
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$69.00

MiniArt has released a model of the 1941 GAZ-MM. These trucks are very similar to the Ford A and they were widely used in World War 2 by the Soviet Army.

This model is not a limited run release. There was no flash at all, and the connector gates are small. There are few locating pins and the plastic is a bit soft, so be careful when removing parts from the sprues. I know that by experience, as I managed to damage and/or bend some very small parts when releasing them from the sprues.

You get 14 sprues, including a small photo-etch fret for a total of 371 parts. There is a very small decal sheet, which only applies to one of the three finishing options. Instructions covers 35 steps, not counting sub-assemblies required within several steps. The instructions are a bit vague at moments. Make sure you dry fit all parts and consider looking at the subassemblies in later steps, to be sure you are putting them together right.