Finished nacelle / prop

Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Nick) - Finished

Finished model

Vanguard Satellite

Finished Model

Hurricane Mk.I "Fabric Wings"

underside of model

1982 Pontiac Firebird

Tail, Right Side

Mirage III C

Rear doors

53 Foot Smooth Side Trailer with Reefer

Figures painted

US WASP (1943 - 1945)

ngine Cowling

Henschel Hs-129B-2/RIII Wings, Cowlings and Things!, Part 3

Finished model

MiG-25RB/RBT

Instrument panel

Hurricane Mk IIC

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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.

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.

Product Picture

Infantry Small Arms of the 21st Century

Book Author(s)
Leigh Neville
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$42.95

This book is a comprehensive work covering the range of modern small arms used in today’s world armed forces.

The chapters cover the main weapons in use as follows

  • Chapter One - Combat Pistols
  • Chapter Two - Sub Machine Guns and Personal Defense Weapons
  • Chapter Three - Assault Rifles and Carbines
  • Chapter Four - Battle and Designated Marksman Rifles
  • Chapter Five - Combat Shotguns
  • Chapter Six - Sniper and Anti-Materiel Rifles
  • Chapter Seven - Light Machine Gun, Light Support Weapons and Squad Automatic Weapons
  • Chapter Eight - Support Weapons

Each chapter goes in to great details of each weapons in the category and provides a lot of reference work for anyone interested in modern weapons. It is also a treasure trove of information and photos for modelers of modern troops and weapons.

Product Picture

More Air National Guard Mustangs
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Iliad Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$12.00

Iliad Design has a newly released set of decals for 1/48th scale P-51D Mustangs in various National Guard markings. Upon receiving the decal set for review I contacted Iliad Design and asked if there was a specific P-51D kit for which the decals were designed to be used. I was informed that the decals could be used on any P-51D on the market. I bought an Airfix P-51D to use as the test bed for this review. This is not a review of the Airfix kit, but I should mention that it has a great deal of detail. I mention this detail because the decals would be put to the test to see how well they “fit” over, and into, this detail. I will mention that I enjoyed the Airfix project immensely and found it to be a model that I could recommend to anyone who is looking for a good Mustang.

Box Top

9K330 Tor Air Defense System
Review Author
Dan Brown
Published on
Company
Panda Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.95

The 9K330 Tor is the newest vehicle in the Russian arsenal for self contained anti-air missile defense system. The missile system is the SA-15 Gauntlet and it is mounted in the 9K330 Tor tracked chassis. The vehicle has an integrated rotating search radar, a tracking radar in the front of the turret, antennas for guidance and 6 vertically stored missiles in the center of the turret. Interestingly, these missiles are stored internally and are launched similar to US naval vessels. In 2016, Panda Hobby released the original version of this kit and it remains the only styrene kit of this subject. This new release from 2019 adds replacement white metal tracks to the kit.

Cover

Single No. 14 - Messerschmitt ME-163B-1 Komet
Book Author(s)
Marek Rys & Krzysztof Wolowski
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Casemate UK
MSRP
$11.99

The Book

This book is intended as a reference for anyone building a 1/72 or 1/48 scale model of a production Messerschmitt ME-163B. It contains entirely visual references, and does not tell the developmental or operational history of the type, but this information is covered in so many other references, so that is not so important. The modeling information, however, is extremely well done. The scale drawings are very useful, and whoever made the photographs did a very good job of accessing the aircraft and picturing the details, especially the interior. There are several ME-163’s on display in museums, so with some cooperation with the curators, good photos are certainly obtainable. There are some period photos included, some showing the equipment used by the crews during operations. The cockpit interior views are especially good, and I think with these, a pilot could get in one of these and fly it, if he was that suicidal.

Box Art

Israeli Dolphin Class Submarine
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
OKB Grigorov
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$17.00

OKB Grigorov has provided very nice Israeli Dolphin submarine which represent a diesel-electric submarine developed and constructed in Germany for the Israeli Navy. They were based on the export only German 209 class submarines. The Dolphin class entered service in May 1999 and are still active today.

  • seven small resin parts
  • two photoetch sheets
  • one resin submarine

The detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal from the resin bases.

There was no instruction sheet provided, this was not a problem as it was a simple build.

The assembly is quick and easy.

The resin stand is an awesome addition to the kit.

The final part is painting.

This is my forth one of these great kits and I really enjoy building these and they make a wonderful display all lined up.