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.

IPMS/USA Members: We encourage you to submit reviews, both here and to the Journal. To volunteer for membership in the IPMS/USA "Reviewers Corps" and submit your own reviews, please read the Guidelines For Submitting Product Reviews.

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
Bob LaBouy
Published on
Company
AFV Club
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.99

History

The name ‘clouded leopard’ is taken from a beautiful medium-sized wild cat that is found throughout much of Southeastern Asia and pictured below to satisfy your animal interest for this beautiful cat.

This kit is a Taiwan Infantry Fighting Vehicle (TIFV) and appears to closely resemble the Stryker vehicles I have seen at Ft. Lewis. That’s where the apparent similarity ends, as the basic CM-32 vehicle series is new design built in Taiwan, the Republic of China.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
AMMO by Mig Jimenez
MSRP
$1.50

This review covers the following standing sticks from the AMMO line

  • Standard sanding stick with grits 180/320/600/2000; MSRP: $1.50
  • Large Surfaces sanding stick with grits: 320/600/4000; MSRP: $2.10
  • Multipurpose sanding stick with grits 150/240/320/600/1200/2000; MSRP: $2.30

All these sticks have the different grits identified by color coding each surface of half-surface. Their size is large enough to fit well and comfortable in your hand.

They are flexible, so you can use them in any task that requires following curved surfaces. They are padded (in particular the Large Surfaces one), which means your hand does not need to follow a curved path, the padding of the sanding stick will do that for you.

The Multipurpose stick is a workbench workhouse that could be used from shaping parts with its 150/240 grit, all the way to polishing parts with its 2000 grit.

Book Author(s)
Kamen Nevenkin
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Peko Publishing
MSRP
$129.95

Although the idea itself was born earlier, the Hungarian Peko Publishing, was established in 2012. Even though this is quite a young company, it became popular and well known by the modeling community in a short period of time. The key to their success is that they own thousands of original photographs, most of which have not yet been published. PeKo Publishing Books are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Brengun
MSRP
$9.75

The Mark XIII torpedo was the primary air-dropped torpedo of U.S. Navy in World War II. While it originally entered service in 1938, due to a series of design flaws, its performance during the first years of World War II was dismal, often running erratically, failing to maintain the correct depth and arming prematurely. However, continued improvements to the Mark XIII during the war eventually made it a powerful and effective weapon. Later in the war, Mark XIII’s were used on American PT boats on roll-off racks, replacing the bulky torpedo tube launchers originally mounted (United States Naval Undersea Museum).

Book Author(s)
M.C. Bishop
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$20.00

Silly me. When I saw the title of this book, I thought it was simply going to be a compilation of various shield motifs I could use in my figure modeling. Instead, this publication opened a world of fascinating information on the development, manufacture and use of this most Roman of military items – the scutum or shield. Use of the large, rectangular shield had a large part in dictating Roman tactics, as it permitted the Legionnaire to move in tight formations, well-protected by his fellow soldiers and his own shield – something few other ancient armies were capable of.