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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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Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.95

Having built two of the ICM 1/32nd scale Cobras I can tell you that the mounting point is a fragile joint. On my first one I broke it off twice and had to pin and glue it back on. It was frustrating as it was near the end of the build.

Well SAC has taken that frustration out of the equation. Inside their typical blister pack are two white metal landing gear and four parts for the ground handling wheels. Mine were perfectly cast and were exact replicas of the kit landing gear, but stronger. This set has the aerodynamic fairings installed on Vietnam era Cobras. These fairings were later removed and the round crosstubes remained.

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

Thanks to Casemate Publishing & IPMSUSA for the review copy!

Kagero Publishing, from Poland, extends their Top Drawings Series with No. 116, the French Marine Nationale aircraft carrier Clemenceau (le Clem). She was placed into service in 1961, incorporating the latest advances in aircraft carrier technology. She and her sister ship, Foch, were active for more than 40 years, forming the backbone of French military power projection. The TopDrawings series is designed for modelers to have a reference for detailed appearances of individual ships and aircraft. TopDrawings consist of color covers with black & white (B&W) line drawings of the ship, particular features, and equipment, especially armament (including aircraft). But the main attraction is the separate, large foldout of B&W scale drawings – 1/400 in this book, to match existing model kits.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.50

Many of the US fighter pilot figures are depicting older style safety equipment like helmets and oxygen masks. PJ production released a nice version of current Eurofighter “Typhoon” pilots with latest helmet. The new helmet has LED sensors on top of the helmet for head tracking. The helmet also allows a pilot to see below (or through) the airplane to target aircraft below their aircraft.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.00

Many of the US fighter pilot figures are depicting older style safety equipment like helmets and oxygen masks. PJ production released a nice version of current Eurofighter “Typhoon” pilot with latest helmet. The new helmet has LED sensors on top of the helmet for head tracking. The helmet also allows a pilot to see below (or through) the airplane to target aircraft below their aircraft.

The product contains a single pilot figure cast in three pieces, lower torso, upper torso, and arms. There is a minimal amount of “flash” on the parts, but they are easily cleaned off. One thing to note is small bumps on top of the helmet, these are not a casting flaw. These “bumps” are on the real helmet (LED sensors for head tracking). As with most figures, there may be places that need to be altered. When test fitting, the fit perfectly in the Revell Typhoon cockpit with just a small gap between the feet and rudder pedals.

Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.00

Tamiya has released a newly tooled kit of the M18 Hellcat. There are six new sprues along with a clear sprue from their M4A3E8 kit and a sprue for the 50-caliber machine gun that is from past kits. A decal sheet has two marking options. A length of black thread is used for the tow cable and has enough for two lengths. Two poly caps are included in a small bag. There are no photo-etched parts. The black and white instruction booklet is 16 pages long with 37 construction steps. A separate color three-page, tri-fold supplement has the two painting/marking schemes and a history of the M18 in eight languages. Something different with the instructions is that it shows painting and decal marking locations in each step, plus they are also on this supplement.