Final 2

Watchtower

Decals

Mitsubishi Ki-67 Heavy Bomber Hiryu "14th FR"

Quartering views

HMS Illustrious

Completed left side

RM Kustom Custom Chopper Set

Completed overhead view

Bf-109F

Sprue 8

StuG.III Ausf.G May 1943 Production mit Schurzen

Swag

Royal Class MiG-15 Quattro Combo

Side View

Battleship USS Missouri BB-63, Part 2

9B comleted gun bay

Lockheed Martin F-104 Starfighter A/C

Left Rear - Painted Kit

St. Chamond Late Type French Heavy Tank

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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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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.

Front Cover

Chieftain British Cold War Main Battle Tank

Book Author(s)
Robert Jackson
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$22.95

This is another 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 Chieftain a British Cold War main battle tank. The Chieftain was designed in the late 1950’s as the replacement for the successful Centurion tank. It was believed to be the best tank in service with the NATO allies during the 1960’s and 70’s.

I found this book contains so much detailed information and pictures of the Chieftain and its variants. The Profile pictures are a particular favorite and has given me a few great ideas of the color schemes for when I build my Takom and Tamiya Kits.

It covers the use of the tank during the Iran- Iraq war and the Gulf war.

The chapters on the different model builds and kits are of great interest and will provide a good resource when modelling this tank.

Box Art

Standard B "Liberty" with WWI US Infantry
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.99

This is the third release of ICM’s excellent kit of the Liberty B Truck. This release includes four figures of WWI soldiers that are extremely well sculpted and detailed.

Standard B Liberty WW1 US Army Truck

ICM‘s description of the truck: “The US Army Liberty Trucks produced at the end of the 1st World War were the first attempt in the world to create a standardized range of military vehicles, serially produced by several firms from standardized units.

The most famous were cars of Category B Series 1 with a capacity of 3 tons, which from the beginning of 1918 were produced by 15 American companies. They were hood trucks with an open cab equipped with a four-cylinder engine, a cardon drive of the rear axle with worm gear and cast tires.

Before the end of the war, 9452 Liberty Trucks were assembled, of which 7600 were sent to Europe.”

Box Art

The Corr-U-Gator
Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Masterpiece Models
MSRP
$25.00

When you click the 'About Us' tab on Masterpiece Models website this is what you'll read...

'Masterpiece Models manufactures and sells the highest quality resin assembly kits on the market today. Featuring kits for a variety of interests including WWII, Vietnam, Sci-fi, and aircraft bases. We have acquired the rights to a large selection of the Custom Dioramics line that are now available through us as resin assembly kits. Our kits are manufactured at our Vancouver, Washington, USA fabrication and casting shop.”

What they have left out is that this company also has a line of dinosaur stuff: a T-Rex tooth in one to one scale, several different dinosaur skulls (Velociraptor/Triceratops in 1:9th scale), and a superb, 31” Nautilus submarine of Jules Verne fame, to name a few.

Product Image

First Aid Basics Pigments
Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
AMMO by Mig Jimenez
MSRP
$19.90

I am often in a quandary with how to begin an IPMS/USA product review (It usually doesn’t last too long.) More often than not I'll just use the material that the manufacturers have made available via their websites. So, without further ado, via AMMO/MiG's website:

“Which are the most basic pigment colors a modeler needs to get started? Which are the most used colors across all types of modeling subjects including aircraft, ships, military vehicles, or spacecraft? This set (First Aid Basics) provides the easiest solution to the novice modeler who is just starting in the hobby and does not really know what is needed.

Box Art

Focke-Wulf 190V-1
Review Author
Blaine Singleton
Published on
Company
Classic Airframes
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$85.00

In the Box

Instructions

The instruction booklet was divided into four pages of clearly marked parts and their construction sequence. Illustrations for the parts and their construction sequence were very clear and crisp. The instructions contained 10 separate steps to complete the model. My instruction book was missing step seven but that appeared to be the step when the wing is attached to the fuselage.

Included with the instructions is a drawing for paint and decal applications for either of two aircraft. One version was in natural metal finish and the other was in German camo markings.

Clear Plastic

Supplied was one piece of vacuum formed plastic with two canopies molded into it.

Canopy Mask

For painting the canopy I used my own masks cut from Tamiya tape.