Finished

X-15A-2 White Ablative Coating

Finished Kit

Sea Hurricane Mk IIc

Finished

Saab JA-37 Viggen

Image 11

Stug III 75mm Assault Gun

Finished model

US Coast Guard HH-65C Dolphin Helicopter

Tail Rotor Installed

"Pave Hawk" HH-60G, Part 2 Exterior

Left side high

British Heavy Assault Tank A-39 Tortoise

SdKfz 247 Painted

Wehrmacht Armored Vehicles

Finished Spyder model

Porsche 918 Spyder

Complete diorama

Battle of Britain – Ready for Battle Gift 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.

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.

Cover

RAF Hendon – The Birthplace of Aerial Power
Book Author(s)
Andrew Renwick
Review Author
Walt Fink
Published on
Company
Flight Recorder Publications
MSRP
$19.95

Having spent some pleasurable visits to both the RAF Hendon and RAF Cosford museums, my curiosity was piqued by the title of this book and I was anxious to review it. When I received it and saw “Royal Air Force Museum” on the soft cover as the official “sponsor,” I anticipated coverage of the first, if not both museums.

Nope. In fact, the author states in the second paragraph of his introduction that there’s not enough space in the publication to cover the museum in depth---instead, the book is a concise history of RAF Hendon’s founding, rise, and utilization.

Box Art

M114A1 155mm Howitzer (Vietnam)
Review Author
Chris Graeter
Published on
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$46.00

History

Originally produced in 1941 as the M1A1, the gun was continuously updated and, during the 1960s, was rebuilt with its designation changed to M114, M114A1, and M114A2. These weapons served in Vietnam. The kit represents the M114A1 designation that served in the Vietnam War.

Kit

Inside the box are 10 spruces molded in olive drab plastic. All are sealed in plastic. The kit also includes 1 PE fret, 1 decal sheet, and an instruction booklet with color photos/drawings of the gun. There are 28 steps in the instructions, with a section on how to build the rounds and powder canisters/bags that are included with the kit. The parts are all nicely molded with very little-to-no clean up. The box art shows five figures stationed around the gun in the firing position, but they are not included with the kit.

Box Art

FE.2b early Part 3
Review Author
Michael Scott
Published on
Company
Wingnut Wings, Ltd
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$89.00

The nacelle went together with no issues. First, the inside was masked and painted a combination of aluminum, wood, and CDL (Clear Doped Linen, for which I used Tamiya Buff acrylic). Don’t forget to drill the appropriate holes in the nacelle sides for the version you are building. The bottom seam wass covered by the armor plate floor and the remaining seams were easily dealt with. The assembly was masked – engine and cockpit – and sprayed with Tamiya rattlecan OD, which dried quickly and hard. I decided to leave the landing gear assembly and the nacelle MG mounts off until after the wings were mounted and rigged. Otherwise, I would surely break something off.

Parts Package

F-102 Pitot Tube
Review Author
Gary Thomas
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$3.50

What you get is a turned brass pitot tube which just glues on to replace the Hasegawa pitot. The brass part has the correct shape, and fits right into the hole in the kit nose.

I installed the aftermarket pitot tube on my F-102. It went on the aircraft with no problem and adds to the looks of the aircraft. The only problem was determining the correct color it should be painted. In pictures of the F-102, it was painted in different colors. It turned out to be a very fine feature.

Highly recommended. The caveat here is that the Hasegawa kit is quite old, and there’s no interior, the seat is sub-standard, and the aftermarket for the kit would be a seat and this pitot. So it’s up to you what level of detail you want to install. This is a good start, though.

Thanks to Master Model for the part and to IPMS/USA for letting me review it. This got that 1970s-vintage F-102 out of my stash.

Parts Package

AIM-9L/M/N Seeker Head Cover with RBF Flags, IDF Style
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$7.00

For those of you that have never heard of Aerobonus, they are a line produced by Aires that includes various RBF tags, munitions carriers, and some select weapons. The product for review today is a set of six resin seeker head covers in 1/32 scale for any of the AIM-9L/M/N variants. In this case, the RBF tags are printed on yellow vinyl and are marked in white letters in Hebrew specifically for the Israeli Defense Force.