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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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Book Author(s)
Ian Baxter
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$24.95

Ian Baxter is a respected historian and an author I actively seek out for his insight and amazing photographs for World War II. This book continues its amazing legacy, does not disappoint, and is worth the price for the photographs alone.

Following the familiar Pen & Sword Images of War series is the story of Tanks and Armour in Ukraine 1941–1944. Each chapter starts with a brief history of the topic covered, followed by a lot of photographs to complement the text.

This book is composed of the following:

Book Author(s)
Various
Review Author
Tom Dunford
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$16.00

Super Model International No. 4 is the fourth installment in Kagero's series combining ‘how to’ information with a ‘showcase gallery’ of armor models in diorama settings. The publication is sub-titled: “Polish Steel, vol.2” and includes reviews of four armor models all featuring world-class builds from Polish modelers:

  • SdKfz-234/3, Hasegawa 1:72, by Adam Juszczak
  • M3 Lee, Mirage 1:72, by Radoslaw Rzeszotarski
  • KV-2, Trumpeter, 1:35, by Robert Chmiel
  • BT-7, Tamiya, 1:35, by Tomasz Kica

There are minimal ads, excellent photography with a useful layout making it easy to navigate the 4 main articles. Each build is presented in the Author’s style so the format is varied. The first article on the SdKfz-234/3 places all the text into the individual photo captions; whereas, the following three articles include all of the written information into a comprehensive ‘body of text’ in the more customary style.

Book Author(s)
Michael John Claringbould
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Avonmore Books
MSRP
$42.95

Michael John Claringbould hit another home run (the pun works with both baseball and cricket) with this latest addition to the Pacific Profile series. Night fighters grew out of necessity and are rarely noted, much less written about. This book fills that void in great and interesting detail.

From the Introduction,

Welcome to the diverse world of Pacific War night fighters. This volume focuses on their markings and insignia, mostly under-represented to date with the exception of the P-61 Black Widow series. In addition to the P-61, other types illustrated include the P-70 series Nighthawk, the P-38 Lightning, the B-25 Mitchell, the F4U-2 Corsair and the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura. Three other miscellaneous types associated with the night fighter program are illustrated in the final chapter.

Review Author
Chris Surber
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$17.95

I guess the most important thing to keep in mind about this review item is that it is designed and fitted for the 20 plus year old 1/48 Mauve/Eduard kit and the similarly aged Academy P-40N/M. This aftermarket set is not intended for the new 2025 Eduard P-40 N and possibly forthcoming M.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Kazan Model Dynamics
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$27.99

The Eduard P-51Ds are excellence in plastic. They are beautiful plastic kits, but the landing gear is a little fragile. Enter Kazan Model Dynamics, with their HybridCAST sets. What does HybridCAST mean? There is an aluminum rod surrounded by resin pieces. This gives you superior strength along with the superior details offered by resin.

Packaged in a top opening stiff card stock box with plenty of foam to protect the parts. The instructions are printed on a single-sided sheet. This particular set has 20 resin pieces, but what sets these apart is the inclusion of aluminum tubing INSIDE the strength critical parts such as the landing gear struts and the actuator rods.