Completed build

Type 92 Jyo-Sokosha Tank

Bow top view

U.S. Navy Tanker

Pic 16

SH-60B SeaHawk

Sprue Layout

Infantry Tank Mk. III “Valentine” Mk IX

Upper right closeup

B-17E, F, and Early G: Part II - The Finished Model

Figure with soft cap, front

USAAF Fighter Pilot WWII - 8th Army (European Battlefields)

Right side

SPAD XIII c1 WWI French Fighter

Wing fold details

TBD-1 Devastator

Aft right view of finished model

15cm s.IG.33/2 (Sf) auf Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer

Chrome sprues

Go Mad Nomad

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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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Detail Parts

Hurricane Rotol Propeller (with Rotol and Spitfire spinner) and tool
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

QB 48446 (Rotol Spinner) and QB 48447 (Spitfire Spinner), each $6.50

The Italeri Hurricane is getting a lot of attention from the aftermarket manufactures. Quickboost has released two resin Rotol propellers for it. One of the sets has the typical Rotol spinner (more pointed); the other set has a Spitfire spinner (more blunt). I’ve read that during the Battle of Britain there were some Hurricanes fitted with Spitfire spinners.

A nice feature of these aftermarket sets is the provision of a “tool” to ensure the proper pitch of all the propeller blades. After sanding off the back of the spinners, the tool provides you with a “seat” for the spinner, and then you only need to tack the propeller blade in place with a drop of superglue.

Detail Parts

Hurricane Mk.I Cockpit Set
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$21.50

The Italeri Hurricane has been molded with the option of having both the escape door and canopy open, allowing a great view of the cockpit. The original cockpit is fine but there is always space for enhancement and Aires is offering a nice resin and photoetch cockpit detail set for it.

Sadly, the review sample I got only had the Hurricane photoetch fret on it. The resin parts were for a different model, probably a “George,” as the cockpit layout and seat look a lot like a Japanese cockpit to me.

As such, I cannot comment on the fit of the parts or any other assembly issue (I just did not have all the right parts!).

Based on the parts breakdown, this detail set is intended to be a full replacement “drop-in” cockpit. Based on the picture from the Aires website, the details is very fine and it should be a nice improvement over the plastic parts. The detail on the photoetch fret is superb.

Detail parts

Hurricane Gun Barrels
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost has released several items to enhance the Italeri Hurricane. Among them are these “drop-in” replacement parts for the gun barrels. They are very nicely rendered in medium grey resin, with crisp panel lines and good depth for the barrels.

During construction, however, I ran into problems. The replacement parts are a bit too wide to fit in their slots in the wings. Maybe the problem is due to my construction of the wings, but neither the starboard nor the port gun barrel would fit.

I’ve measured the slots and the resin parts and maybe the problem is that both the replacement parts and the slots have the exact same width (20.0 mm, measured with a caliper). Perhaps the resin parts should have been a tad narrower to be able to fit in the slots?

Cover

The Falklands 1982, Ground Operations in the South Atlantic
Book Author(s)
Gregory Fremont-Barnes, illustrated by Graham Turner
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$19.95

This year is the 30th anniversary of the Falklands/Malvinas War or the South Atlantic conflict, as it has been known. As such, different plastic model kit sets and publications are been released and The Falklands 1982, Ground Operations in the South Atlantic is among them.

The Falkland conflict included combat in the air, sea and ground. This book concentrates on the ground combat. It is impossible not to refer to the other arms in any conflict, but as the author clearly states a few times during the book, the content is devoted to the ground operations.

The book covers the operations in a chronological order, starting with the events of South Georgia in March, 1982, before moving into the Falklands itself, with the Argentine landings in April, the British landings in May, and the subsequent ground campaign in June, 1982.

Parts Package

Carrier Deck Equipment
Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Gallery Models
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$9.98

The kit subject addresses a generally under-represented set of modern USN aircraft carrier details. While there is an abundance of aftermarket aircraft available for 1:350 carriers, with the exception of some resin offerings there is very little available for the ubiquitous utility vehicles that populate carrier decks. This under-representation has been lessened by MRC with the release of a carrier deck equipment kit.

Packaging and Contents

Everything is in a double-blister pack with the interior blister pack designed as a tray to hold the sprues. For me, this interior pack or tray served well as a corral for very small parts. Two identical sprues are provided in the kit. All parts are crisply molded in light gray plastic. The sprue frames are formed nicely to provide protection for the delicate one-piece fork lift cages. The assembly instructions and painting guides are part of the cardboard packaging. No decal sheet is included.