Painted front

F-15E Strike Eagle

Finished model

Macchi M.5

13 F-4EJ Finished 3

F-4EJ (Final Flight)

Completed

Masterpiece Models Mark 49 Hellcat

Box cover rear

P-39Q Airacobra

Right side

’70 Plymouth HEMI Cuda

Tail Underside

F-4B Phantom

Sample sprue

A-36 Apache USAF

Finished Model

Bf109E-1

Attached to Stand

North American P-51D/K Mustang "Pacific Theater"

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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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Product Picture

Panther Tanks, German Army Panzer Brigades 1944 to 1945
Book Author(s)
Dennis Oliver
Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$28.95

This 64-page book is number 24 in Pen and Sword’s Tank Craft series. It is printed in the larger A4 size on high gloss, thicker paper. The topic of this book is not the Panther tank, but the German Army (Heer) Panzer Brigades that used this tank in 1944 and 1945. There are three generations of Panzer Brigades and each is discussed in detail. There are nice organizational charts for each Brigade. There are ten pages of color camouflage and marking pages with two tanks on each page. Following that section are ten more pages of 1/35 scale kits builds. The first kit is a Dragon Panther Ausf A, then a Dragon Ersatz M10 Panther Ausf G and lastly another Dragon Models Panther Ausf G. There is lots of color photos of these models and explanations how the builds. The ten pages after that are all the different modelling products concerning the Panther tank. Kits and aftermarket products are listed and photos of each. This is a great reference section for modelers.

Cover

Tank Craft – Challenger 2 - British Main Battle Tank of the Gulf War

Book Author(s)
Rob Griffin
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$28.95

This is the 23rd book in the Tank Craft series which details tanks and also covers model kits and accessories to build the tanks covered in the book. This book covers the British Main Battle tank of the Gulf War – Challenger 2.

I found this book a fountain of information and rare pictures of the tanks. The Profile pictures are a favorite and awesome source for modelling.

Of particular interest was the in action and variants chapters which gave me a lot of information that I had not seen before.

The chapters on the different model builds and kits are of great interest and will provide a good resource when modelling these two tanks. There is a lot of suggestions of kit improvements and helpful details of a few great full builds

Product

He 111Z-1 Zwilling Landing Gear
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$26.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal replacement parts. Its line of replacement landing gear has been expanded to include a set for the ICM 1/48 He 111Z-1 Zwilling.

The set is including a total 20 parts covering the main landing gear struts, fork and tail wheel. I am not 100% sure, but most likely these parts can be used with any of the ICM (single fuselage) He 111.

These parts are drop-in replacements for the plastic parts. To complete the landing gear, there is an extra plastic part that needs to be used. That part (c-10 from the instructions) does not carry weight; hence it makes sense to not replace that plastic part with white metal.

Box Art

Spitfire Mk IX "High-Back"
Review Author
Damon Blair
Published on
Company
Platz
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$24.00

Supermarine’s Spitfire was one of the classic fighters of World War II. Produced in different Marks (the British name for versions), the Spitfire served from the beginning of the war until the end. The Mark IX was originally developed as a stop-gap measure in response to the German introduction of the Focke-Wulf FW-190, but later grew into it’s own as a fighter aircraft.

Platz’s Mark IX kit is nice, with finely engraved panel lines and no visible flash. There are 152 parts molded on 5 grey plastic sprues and one clear sprue, of which approximately 57 are used in various Mk IX versions and possibly other Spitfire versions as well. There are 2 Mark IX versions with 4 paint schemes that can be built using this kit.

Box Art

USAAF P-51 "North Africa"
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$35.00

Accurate Miniatures P-51 has been released and re-boxed many times. This time Academy is re-releasing the Allison engine version of the P-51, with a nice decal set focused on the North Africa theater of operations with both RAF and USAAF service. I should point out that one of the marking options is for service over the European Theater of Operations.

The molds date back to the mid-90s. Despite the vintage of the molds, the plastic is molded perfectly, with very sharp recessed panel lines and no flash anywhere to be found.