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.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Green Stuff World
MSRP
$28.83

Green Stuff World describes these chrome metal paints as a hydroalcoholic paint that imitates the appearance of chrome plating. Done correctly, these paints are easy to use and create the best chrome finish I’ve seen from a paint.

There are six bottles included in this set.

  • Antique gold chrome metal
  • Bronze, chrome metal
  • Gold chrome metal
  • Copper metal.
  • Tin plate, chrome metal
  • Chrome metal.

The paints come in a 17 mL .57 fluid-ounce bottle with a dripper spout. The spouts are sealed so they must be drilled open before using. GSW says to thin the paints with alcohol if required.

For the paint tests, I sprayed each color over a Tamiya gloss black base. GSW does not mention a requirement for the black base, but I used it anyway. I also tried the Chrome Metal and Antique Gold colors on bare plastic with only a slight loss of depth and no problems with adhesion.

Review Author
Paul Dunham
Published on
Company
ICM
MSRP
$19.99

In recent years ICM has been in the practice of issuing figure kits to accompany their aircraft, armor, and automotive kits. One of ICMs newest releases is a set of five 1/48th scale figures to accompany their new Ki-21 “Sally” kits. (You can read Allan Murrell’s review of ICM’s “Sally”.) This kit includes three Japanese Army aircrew figures and two ground crew figures. The three aircrew figures are dressed in flight gear. Two are in relaxed standing poses and the third is saluting. One groundcrew figure is at attention and saluting and the other is carrying a ladder.

Review Author
Paul Dunham
Published on
Company
ICM
MSRP
$12.99

The Ukrainian kit manufacturer ICM has recently expanded their catalog to include a range of acrylic paints and varnishes. ICM has begun packaging sets of paints to finish specific kits in their range. In this review, I try out the paint set on ICM’s figure kit “WWII Japanese Pilots and Ground Personnel”.

The set comes in a small rectangular box with examples of the included colors printed on the front and a painting guide for their figure kit on the back. The set includes six 12ml bottles of paint. The bottles are open-topped (no dropper-tips). The undersides of the lids have a raised ridge that does a pretty good job of keeping the paint from getting on the threads of the lids.

The included colors are:

Book Author(s)
Robert Grudzien
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$29.00

The latest in MMP’s Spotlight On series, this, the 28th volume, features the Spitfire IX. Author and artist Robert Grudzien opens the book with a quick summary of the type, then it’s straight into the meat of the book, full colour profiles of 40 examples of the Spitfire IX. These have been created especially for the book and are extremely well executed, exhibiting great detail, and they are split about evenly between port and starboard side views.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.00

People who know me know my modeling quirk for the strange and unusual. This new kit by ICM certainly fits the bill – literally a chapel on wheels! Mounted on a short Studebaker chassis, this vehicle was designed to travel from location to location, dispensing spiritual solace to soldiers in need. Of course, this vehicle was clearly Church of England, so I’m not sure what they provided for their Jewish or Muslim troops, although they may have had similar vehicles.

The boxy rear cabin was large enough to provide ample space for altar and organ as well as a nice fold-down stage from which to preach. In inclement weather it appears there would have been enough space in the closed cabin for a small gathering if required. Because of its nature, though, I doubt profoundly that this machine would have been seen anywhere near the front lines.