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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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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
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
Company
MRC
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$106.99

The Jackal 1 is a new kit from the prolific model company, Hobby Boss in 1/35 scale. It is a unique vehicle from the United Kingdom and deployed to Afghanistan. For those of you unfamiliar with the vehicle, here’s a short description from Hobby Boss, “The British Army has added a category of vehicle to the armored vehicle fleet called the tactical support vehicle (TSV). 400 TSVs were ordered in October 2008 as part of the $700m protected patrol vehicles package. The new TSVs will be used to accompany patrols, and to transport supplies such as ammunition and water.

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$25.00

The RS-132

The RS-132 is an unguided Russian rocket which officially entered service in 1938. It was not known for its accuracy and in one test had no hits in 134 firings. During WWII, its performance was poor since it was usually fired from great distances. It required a direct hit to disable light and medium German armor. Near misses caused no damage at all. It was mostly effective when fired in salvos against large groups of ground troops.

The Kit

The box contains four identical gray sprues containing a total of 104 parts which build up to create four ammunition boxes each holding four shells.

The parts are crisply details and flash free. A double-sided instruction guide is provided. The seven assembly steps are very well illustrated. The color callouts correspond to three colors (olive green, flat black and steel) for which the Tamiya and Revell codes are provided.

Review Author
Jason Holt
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$18.00

History

With Allied Forces getting closer and closer to the homeland of Japan during World War II the Japanese military turned to various methods of self-sacrifice to combat the Allied forces. The MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was one of those weapons.

Essentially this weapon was a human guided cruise missile in which it would be carried aloft by a mothership, typically a G4M Betty Bomber, and then released within sight of the enemy naval fleet. The rocket powered craft would hurdle towards its target with a 2,600lb warhead and a pilot behind the stick with the hopes of hitting a target.

Being late in the war Japan was losing its skilled pilots rapidly, and with this particular one use aircraft, Japan would need to be able to train new unskilled recruits in the art of flying very quickly. It was hoped to give the inexperienced pilots some basic knowledge of the craft in which they were going to fly in, so they created the MXY7-K1 2 seat trainer.

Review Author
Dana Mathes
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$107.95

Summary

ICM has produced an excellent model kit for the fearsome Vietnam-era AH-1G Cobra helicopter (early version). With new molds, this kit is engineered and molded to contemporary standards. ICM has provided the modeler with many options for ordnance, service bay access, as well as open canopies. Markings have been provided for 4 schemes. The kit has eliminated most of the constructability problems of the old Revell/Monogram kit, but it still has a couple of spots that require special attention. The instrument panel details provided are inadequate for a kit of this quality.

Book Author(s)
Mig Jimenez
Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
AMMO by Mig Jimenez
MSRP
$9.53

The AMMO by Mig Jimenez series of The Weathering Magazine issues address all modeling genres and focus on painting and weathering techniques for scale models and figures centered on their products. Including great photos accompanied by thorough step-by-step processes in each article, they give builders of any skill level the chance to recreate these effects and build their skills in doing so. Each issue focuses on a specific theme and this time around we look at the effects of fire and explosive forces on the pieces.

After an introduction by editor Sergiusz Pęczek , the articles open with "Ukrainian Rebel" by Kreangkrai Paoiinda. He takes the Trumpeter 1/72 T-72B Mod 1990 MBT and with some aftermarket parts and AMMO´s products recreates anti-tank explosive side hull damage. The descriptions are expansive as he modifies parts to show the damage and the extensive use of pigments and washes to show the ash and soot left over after the road wheels have burned off.