Bike and figure

Price of War: European Civilian 1944-1945

Right rear 1

Marder II Mid-Production ’39 – ’45 Series

Right side

German or Austro-Hungarian WWI Pilot

Cockpit

Blohm & Voss BV-40 Glider Fighter

Decals

F6F-5 Hellcat

Sedan - painted, assembled - undercarriage

Kawasaki Ki61-I Tei Type 3 Fighter Hien (Tony) and Type 95 Small Sedan Kurogane 4Wd (Model 3) “244Th Flight Regiment” w/Figure

Completed kit 4

Sd.Kfz.254 Tracked Armored Scout Car

Left Rear

Russian AT-T Artillery Prime Mover

Application of Winter Scheme

Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.L Late Production w/Winterketten

Top Side

"Q" Ship

Previous Next

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.

Packaging

A-4 Skyhawk Refueling Probe - Early
Review Author
Charles Landrum
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$3.50

Quickboost continues to deliver targeted resin details; designed to improve overlooked aspects of a model, for a wide range of subjects.

This is a one piece set which provides a replacement for a straight refueling probe on the Fujimi A-4. It provides a clean one-piece replacement for the A-4 without the worry of misshaping the probe or the shaft while removing the mold line. Plus this resin is a bit more durable than styrene and therefore subject to less breakage. The detail of the probe is amazing. Recommended.

We thank Aires Hobby Models and Quickboost for the review sample.

Box Art

Gloster Meteor F.3
Review Author
Jack Kennedy
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$28.00

To my knowledge there were very few 1/72 scale Gloster Meteors produced so it came as a very welcome offering by Dragon.

Upon opening the box, I was impressed with the molding of this kit. The details were very fine and crisp. I consulted my research books and decided to use a white scheme, which was only used on 3 F.3 aircraft.

Assembly was pretty straight forward. The cockpit was very complete; was painted in black and was not very difficult to do. The landing gear assembly in Step 1 was a little confusing when gluing parts B-3 and B-2. I knew that the Meteor was somewhat tail- heavy so I added a load of fishing sinker shot. I don’t know how much weight I added but next time I build a Meteor, I am going to add a brick as mine still became a tail sitter.

The fit on the wing assembly was very good with only a little filler needed at the upper wing root. After the wings were fitted the flaps, landing gear and landing gear doors were added.

Book cover

Hacks - Utility Planes of the Mighty Eighth
Book Author(s)
Jacek Jackiewicz
Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
Company
Atelier Kecay
MSRP
$49.90

Mention “hack” in today’s society and most people think of something to do with computers. Mention the same word to aircraft modelers and we think of utility aircraft such as Norsemans, Bobcats, Piper Cubs, etc.

”Hacks” is the story of those aircraft used by the Bases and Groups of the Eight Air Force in England during WWII. The book has a soft cover with the complete text in English and consists of 132 pages, 267 photos and 195 color profiles. Besides the more common utility type of aircraft, hacks included War Weary Thunderbolts and Mustangs, Bostons and Forts and many other types. These are details with at least one picture, a profile and a little bit of data.

The book starts out with a numerical listing of the USAAF stations in the United Kingdom between 1942 and 1945. There are 360 bases listed.

Book cover

Napoleon's Army 1790 - 1815
Book Author(s)
Lucien Rousselot
Review Author
Jack Kennedy
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$129.95

As a painter of military miniatures I welcome any new book on uniforms. Since my field of interest is the Napoleonic Era, this book by Casemate was most welcome. When John Noack offered it, I jumped at the chance to review it. I was not aware that it was written by the most renowned expert on the uniforms and history of the Napoleonic Era.

When I fist started painting figures of the Napoleonic period, I was taken by the beautiful prints by Lucien Rousselot. At that time they were very expensive and I could only afford a few. Now Casemate has chosen to print all of his works in one book. To someone like me, it was like finding the Holy Grail.

The book in s very large format (11.75” x 8.25”) hardcover book printed on beautiful glossy paper stock. It even has place markers.

This book is broken down into many sections showing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery Staff, Marines, Imperial Guard, Aux Corps and many more.

Packaged art

Moon Bus Decal Set

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
TSDS
Scale
1/55
MSRP
$15.89

TSDS makes products designed for the Sci-Fi modeler and the decal set for the Moebius Moon Bus is just one example of the excellent quality for which TSDS is known.

The decals are advertised as color water-slide decals and indeed they are both colorful and use the traditional dunk-and-slide application technique.

The decals are printed on a single sheet, approximately 5x9. The markings are clear and crisp. Since the entire sheet consists of one large piece of carrier film it is important that each decal be removed from the carrier sheet with the “cut” lines being as close to the actual marking as possible.

The decals responded very well to a short dip in water and none were damaged in the application process even though I handled some of them rather roughly. For all intents and purposes one can apply these decals in the same fashion as one uses for those decals that are supplied in any typical model kit.