Decal sheet

Russian YAK-130

Finished

V3000S "Einheitsfahrerhaus" and Acrylic Paint Set - Wehrmacht Trucks

Finished Model - Left Front

Beechcraft Bonanza F33

Front detail view

M36/M36B2 'Battle of the Bulge'

Paint Ready

Iveco Hi-Way 40th Anniversary

model 4

Spitfire Mk.1 (Early)

Sally window masks

In The Skies Of China, Composite Kit: Ki-21 and Ki-27

Close-up

Leichte (Funk) Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf. A

Rt Flank

M4 Sherman Tank

Completed model

Avro Lancaster B Mk. I Nose Art Kit

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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.

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Box Top

PACV Hovercraft (U.S. Army)
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Croco Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$45.00

Croco Models from Latvia produces some very interesting and unusual kits and this one is another great additional to their line up.

The Kit is resin

Included is:

  • 67 resin parts
  • One Photo Etch Sheet
  • One Decal sheet
  • One instruction sheet

The resin casing detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal from the resin bases. Some arrived broken so I would suggest improving the packaging.The instructions need a lot of experience to work with to get a great model as they are not very clear. The assembly is good but needs a lot of patience, pre-fitting and time to the build going together correctly. There were a few gaps that needed filling. The PE sheet has some parts that are not for this version, it is also very thick and made it harder to remove parts from it. There are a few decals but no directors for location, so I used online references for this.

Cover

Flying Flatiron - Gloster Javelin
Book Author(s)
Alex Crawford; Illustrator Chris Sandham-Bailey
Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$38.00

This book is from their Orange Series that specializes in particular aircraft types, in this case the Gloster Javelin. There are 208 pages of mixed text, photos, line drawings, charts and tables of info about the aircraft starting with a rather detailed recounting of the conception and initial design of the aircraft and how that design evolved into the final version. It then goes on to discuss the various armaments it carried, including the air-to-air missiles which also includes a brief run down on how the Firestreak missile was developed. Next is a mark-by-mark description of every variant of the aircraft with many illustrations to show the differences. Included in this chapter is a rather detailed technical description of all the various systems in the aircraft, such as landing gear, electrical and hydraulic systems, 12 annotated photos of various marks’ cockpits and cutaway photos, diagrams, line drawing and charts about the engines.

Box Top

Panzer II Auf. F North Africa
Review Author
Dekker Zimmerman
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$44.00

Boom. And just like that a Academy Panzer II model kit landed at my door. So The adventure begins. I have built many models of armor but was not a fan of early German subjects. This kit looked interesting and as a new molded kit I was curious what new technologies have been used on this kit. This review will read like bullet points for easy reading.

Un-Boxing

The box itself has very nice art on it. Paint call outs on the side have seven manufacturers listed and are a big plus in my book. The manufacturers are: Humbrol, GSI Creos, Life Color, Model Master, Revell, Vallejo and AK. The kit is a skill level 4 (out of 5) and is clearly marked on the box. The box itself is top opening and very stout.

Front Cover

I-16 Rata, The Fighter That Saved the USSR
Book Author(s)
Oleg Pototskiy
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$49.95

Background

This book provides a very complete history of the development of the Polikarpov I-16 fighter series. It actually goes further than that, as it also explains the political and economic conditions in the Soviet Union after the 1917 Revolution, when the Tsarist Russian government was replaced by Trotsky’s Communist regime in the twenties and thirties. The author goes into extensive detail explaining how the Soviet economy was going through very severe changes, with violent repression of anyone who was even suspected of disagreeing with the system. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were slaughtered during this process, and many more were imprisoned for extended periods, but some were still allowed to work on whatever projects they had been working on.

parts

F-4B Phantom Metal Landing Gear
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$17.95

One of SAC’s (Scale Aircraft Conversions) latest gear is set 48402 for the wonderful Tamiya F-4B in 1/48th scale. The set has wonderfully cast metal parts to replace all the gear struts, retractions cylinders and other parts. They are drop in replacements and was I ever glad to get them for review and here’s why. I recently moved for work including 400 built models. During the move, my F-4B took a hit and broke off one gear leg. SAC to the rescue!

To start, I removed the tire from the broken gear leg and cleaned out the hole in the bottom of the fuselage making sure the new leg fit which it did with no issues. A quick clean up with sandpaper and then I primed with Tamiya fine primer, let it dry and painted the leg white. I added the tire, gave everything a quick gray wahs and glued it in place paying attention to angle and the like. Once dry, you would never know it was broken.