Interior Cockpit Seat and Nav Panel

Lancaster Mk.1B - Part 1 of 3

8 port forward fuselage

F-14D Tomcat

Mascot close-up.

Mig-21 Mascot

Cockpit 3

Tempest Mk.V OVERTREES

Finished

Ki-21-1b 'Sally' with Pilots and Ground Personnel

Finished O-2A

Nakhon Phanom Air Base

Brengun 1-32 S-100 CamCopter Fuselage 1001

S-100 CamCopter

Pic 4

SH-60B SeaHawk

Fuselage half

North American B-25C/D Mitchell

Completed model

USN JM-1

Previous Next

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.

Packaging

MottleMaster Stencils
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Masterpiece Models
MSRP
$10.00

Mottling the paint scheme on a model by hand can be difficult and rather time consuming. Keeping the paint at a consistent density, avoiding a semblance of a “pattern” in the layout of the mottling, and paying attention to panel lines are all issue that need attention when applying a “mottled” finish.

Masterpiece has addressed these issues with an easy-to-use set of templates. The templates are sturdy pieces of a cardboard-type paper. Each template contains a multitude of holes and openings that are of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some of the “knock-out” panels that make up the openings in the template are still in place. Removing them will bring about a diverse pattern each time you use the template. Also, reversing which side of the template you use (top or bottom) as the surface in contact with the model, will provide additional diversity.

Cover

The The Russian ASW Guided Missile Cruiser Petropavlovsk. Top Drawings 74 7074
Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

Kagero Publishing, from Poland, is one of the major military history publishing houses. Since 1998, when Kagero started publishing in English, over 550 titles have been produced. Topics focus on specific planes, armor and ships, along with a bevy of focused topics, such as a class of warships or an armor type. Kagero caters to ship modelers by turning out books filled with line and 3D computer-generated illustrations, with incomparable accuracy to details. For warships, Kagero has two series: 1) Super 3D Drawings and 2) Top Drawings, focusing on a single ship per book. The topic of this book review is one of the Top Drawings series, which are designed for modelers to have a reference for detailed appearances of individual ships. Top Drawings consist of color covers with black & white (B&W) line drawings of the ship, particular features, and equipment, especially armament.

Cover

Operation Eagle Claw
Book Author(s)
Justin W. Williamson et al
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Bloomsbury Publishing
MSRP
$12.00

This book provides a bounty of historical documentation on the actual “EAGLE CLAW” operation, along with the pictures of actual events taken in the run up to and aftermath of the overall event. Some aspects of the mission are still classified; sourcing data is frequently difficult for anyone attempting to produce a commercial, open-source narrative on Government operations.

Product Picture

Bobcat IL-28T
Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
Company
Bobcat Hobby
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$42.99

The long awaited IL-28T torpedo bomber is the first release of what will probably be a series of IL-28 versions from Bobcat Hobby Model Kits (formerly Xuntong Model). The parts are molded in a grey, slightly soft/slightly brittle plastic (more on the drawbacks of this later). Each of the half dozen sprue trees is individually wrapped in a resealable plastic bag. The kit has been well designed, and most of the parts themselves are highly detailed, even if the exterior surface scribing is a bit heavy. The pilot’s cockpit and bombardier’s compartments in particular are very well fitted out, and the landing gear and wheel wells are nicely detailed, as are the two different torpedo types (for a total of four weapons). The ailerons, flaps and rudder are positionable. Extra parts are included to have both the landing gear doors and pilot’s canopy either opened or closed. Two nose glazings are included, although the difference between them is easy to miss.

Product Picture

250 lb. AN-M57A1 Bomb
Review Author
Blaine Singleton
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$11.68

Hauler-Brengun is known as a supplier of high-quality detail parts for aircraft, as well as other subjects. Once assembled and painted the bomb provides a very nice addition to an aircraft model.

Package Contents

  • Eight resin bomb bodies
  • One sheet of photoetch
  • One instruction sheet

Instructions

The sheet contains one page showing how the parts are assembled on the bomb (fins, fuse arming fan and bomb rack attachments).

Construction

As you can imagine the parts for this bomb are very tiny. The fins once cut from the PE sheets mount with a butt joint on the aft end of the bomb. The fuse and bomb rack attachments are extremely small, so it is advised as you remove the parts from the PE sheet you cut them while the PE sheet laying on a piece of double backed tape.

All parts were attached with C/A.