Finished model

Messerschmitt Me-262

Underside of aircraft

Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.1

Parts on sprue

Bachem Natter Ramp/Trailer

Underbelly prior to attaching landing gear and landing gear doors

A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 "341st Flying Group"

6

Model A Standard Phaeton Soft Top (1930s) with US Cars of the 1930s-1940s Paint Set

VA-164 Right Side

A-4F Skyhawk - Lady Jessie/Blue Tail Flies

Wing sprue

Polikarpov I-16 Type 24

Decals

F/A-18C Hornet (VMFA-312 Checkerboards 2022 Ferris Camouflage)

Finished top

Lockheed C-140A JetStar

Underside seams

Spitfire Mk. VI

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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.

Detail Parts

Me-262A-1/U-5 Gun Barrels
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Hobby Boss seems to be producing almost every version of the Me-262. The upgunned U-5 version is a nice looking kit. However, cleaning up the gun barrels is a pain. Also pains to maintain are the roundness and drilling out the center hole. Quickboost addresses both of these issues.

This is a small set, cast perfectly in a light grey-green resin which contains the two cannons that are direct replacements for the kit parts. They are perfectly round and have the barrel thinned out. It is simple and easy.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Detail Parts

Soviet KAB-500L Laser-Guided Bomb
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$8.50

Seeing laser guided bombs in action seems to be a staple of the western news stations. What we don’t get to see is the employment of the Soviet equivalent. Well, of course the Soviets have the same technology.

These bombs are molded on a single light grey resin pour block with two large bombs and the laser guidance warhead. There is also a very small clear pour block with the laser detectors. Aerobonus also provides you with decals for the bombs. In this case, they were perfect and did not stick to the protective paper.

Removal of the bombs from the pour blocks shouldn’t prove too difficult as long as you take care on the bomb fins. Because the laser trackers are separate, you can articulate them if you’d like.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review copy.

Detail Parts

Ju-87B/R Stuka Propeller with Tool
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$8.50

I like the Italeri 1/48th Ju-87 Stuka, but the one thing that bothers me is the shape of the propeller spinner. The kit item is too bulbous and blunt. Quickboost comes to the rescue.

The set consists of three pieces of perfectly cast light grey resin. The first one is the actual spinner, which is correctly shaped with just a small pour stub. The next part is actually three parts, the propeller blades, which are suitably thin and perfectly shaped. The third piece is the propeller jig for setting the prop blade angles and drilling the center mounting hole.

Overall this is a really nice and easy to use set that will fix the biggest problem with the Italeri kit. The prop jig will ensure that everything is the same length and same pitch.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Detail Part

Introduction to USS Arizona Build for Eduard PE Set
Review Author
Robert Folden
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$27.00

Over the past year or so, we have seen a new supply of USS Arizona kits in all scales from Trumpeter, Dragon, and Hobby Boss. A popular scale seems to be 1/700 scale, where we have also seen a kit of the USS Pennsylvania. While both ships had generally the same look up till Pearl Harbor, the Penn later underwent extensive changes. My great uncle had the privilege of serving his country with the United States Navy, and was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania. On December 7th, he was at Pearl Harbor while the Penn was in drydock. He survived Pearl and continued on the Penn through the entire war, and was still with her up until she was scuttled after being used as a target ship for nuclear tests. (My uncle was actually part of the skeleton/scuttling crew and was the 4th to last person to set foot on the mighty ship.) With my family’s ties to the Pennsylvania class, I naturally purchased all of the recent model releases.

Detail Parts

F-16 Fighting Falcon Control Stick
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$6.50

The controls on the F-16 have a variety of switches and buttons on the control sticks. Plastic can only replicate this so far, plus on the kit parts there are mold lines. Quickboost has cleaned this up and added some really crisp detail.

Molded in light grey resin, you get four control sticks that are perfectly cast. Adding them will be simple enough, as there is a casting stub on the base. Really, all these little gems require is a good painting.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review copy.