Raw unsanded part fit is excellent

The Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu, Motors

Completed

German Railway Gun K5(E) "Leopold" w/ Figures

Tread assembly

British Nuffield Assault Tank A.T.1

Sprues

Close Combat US Tank Crew

Smoke Canisters in Primer

PanzerFunkwagen Sd.Kfz. 233 8 Rad 7.5cm

4

Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigate

Photo 2

AD-6 Skyraider "VA-65 Tigers"

Completed

Avia B.534 Quattro Combo

9

HH-60H 'Rescue Hawk'

Right front

Hs-129B-2 Winter Camouflage Limited Edition

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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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Package

F-A-18E-F Super Hornet Tanker
Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$18.75

Brengun produces a wide range of unique resin, photoetch (PE) accessories and full kits in 1/32, 1/48, 1/72 and 1/144.

This resin set comes in a small sturdy cardboard box containing four standard F/A-18 fuel tanks and a refueling “Buddy Pod”. The buddy pod consists of a two-part pod, two different styles of ram air turbine (RAT) hubs, jettison tube, basket housing and photo etch RAT blades. Panel lines are very crisp but deep enough where primer will not fill the panel lines. The upper detail on the pod that would be hidden under the pylon is detailed just in case the pod is displayed separate from your model.

Cover

Tupolev TU-22 Blinder Supersonic Bomber, Attack, Maritime Patrol, & Electronic Countermeasures Aircraft
Book Author(s)
Sergey Burdin & Alan E. Dawes
Review Author
Phil Pignataro
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$20.00

With both engines mounted astride the vertical stabilizer, the supersonic Tu-22 Blinder was unique among modern bombers. It entered Soviet Air Force service during the height of the Cold War in 1961 and was a contemporary of the USAF’s B-58 Hustler. Though a direct comparison between the two aircraft is close to the “apples and oranges” conundrum, the Tu-22 was not as fast as the B-58 but was more versatile. In addition to its conventional and nuclear bombing capabilities, it could fly reconnaissance, anti-shipping, and radar and comm jamming (ECM) missions.

The book was first published in 2005 and this volume is a reprinted soft-cover version. Burdin and Dawes (who is also the translator) document the development, system design, operations, and combat experience of this bomber. Below are the Chapter headings which show the scope of the coverage.

Cover

Strike From the Air: The Early Years of the Us Air Forces
Book Author(s)
Terry C. Treadwell
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$34.95

History

This book covers the aeronautical activities of Americans in the military from the beginnings in the American War Between The States (Civil War) to the end of World War I. Actually, balloons were used by both Union and Confederate forces during that war, and there was some balloon activity up through the end of World War I. After the Wright Brothers made their first flight in 1903, experiments were conducted by Americans to develop military aircraft, although after the Wrights showed the Europeans how to build a practical and controllable airplane, more progress was made in Europe, so that by the time the United States became involved in the war, the British, French, and Germans were far ahead of us in military aviation technology. The U.S. had used a few airplanes in Mexico before our involvement in Europe, but not with great success.

Cover

M4 Sherman / M4, M4A1, M4A4 Firefly
Book Author(s)
Stanislaw Mokwa
Review Author
Tom Pope
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

One of Kagero’s latest installments in their TOPDRAWING series is booklet # 98 which covers the M4 Sherman – namely the M4, M4A1 and M4A4 Firefly variants. Like the other TOPDRAWING series booklets, #98 describes the differences in the external arrangements of the major variants, through text, line drawings (in the more common modeling scales) and a few color profiles. These booklets are a great reference for scale modelers of any experience level. I would like to thank Casemate Publishers for providing a copy for this review.

As described in the introduction on page 1, the M4 Sherman was the most popular American tank of World War II. There were over 49,000 M4 tanks produced in over a dozen variants between early 1942 and mid-1945. As for the M4 variants covered in this booklet, the major different external features were:

Box Art

SH-60B SeaHawk
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$139.95

KittyHawk at long last produces a SeaHawk version of the BlackHawk kit that they produce. This is the SH-60B version with other SeaHawk variations also being released at the same time. The box is noticeably big and stuffed full of plastic sprues and includes most of the parts that are for the other variants, so you have a lot for you spares box remaining when the kit is completed.

In the box is:

  • 11 x light grey sprues
  • 2 x clear sprues
  • 2 x decal sheets
  • 1 photoetch detail set
  • 1 instruction booklet

While you get 11 runners, you also get plenty of unused (spare) parts that are for the other variants of this helicopter. All the runners are extremely well molded with very little flash and fine detail. Although I did find three parts that were not fully molded and had to do filling and scratch building parts to complete these. The decals allow you to finish the aircraft in 6 extremely colorful versions.