Roofing Material Added

Shed

Masking underside

Ju-88A-5

Model on Display

Dominic's 1970 Dodge Charger

Assembled Unpainted

German Rocket V-2 /A4

Left front

Bf-109E-3 and Detail Sets

Preparing to install upper wing and struts

SE.5a Wolsely Viper

Underside

Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien - (Tony)

Parts and Pieces

Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Nick) Part 2 - Cockpit and Fuselage

Completed left side

World of Tanks Cromwell

Cases - Tilted

Panzerfaust with Box

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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

North American P-51 IVa (K) – British Camouflaged Mustangs
Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
Company
LPS Hobby
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$14.57

I was drawn to this decal set for two reasons:

One, I thought that camouflaged Mustangs are not seen as much as the bare metal US aircraft.

Two: I had to do the Aussie Southern Cross marking being an Aussie!

LPS Hobby is a decal manufacturer from Brazil. The decal sheet, instruction sheet and cover page are contained within a generously sized zip-lock bag.

This small decal set contains marking for three British camouflaged P-51K Mustangs from Royal Canadian, South African and Royal Australian Air Forces:

  • KH608, Y2, “Edmonton Special”, PO John Mallandaine, 442 Sqn RCAF, Hunsdon, England. May 1945
  • KH673, GL-N, “Sweetpea”, 5 Sqn SAAF, Udine Italy, January 1945
  • KH676, CV-A, F/Lt 'Dusty' Lane, 3 Sqn RAAF, Cervia, Italy, April 1945

The recommended donor kit is the Tamiya 1/72 P-51D Mustang, however the newer Airfix, or any other manufacturers P-51D/K could also be used.

Product Picture

Metal Gear Set for Revell 1/32 P-51D-25
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$17.95

MORE SAC FUN! Yes, the Revell P-51D-5 receives the SAC treatment because it’s a big kit, and Ross and his team came up with metal gear for this kit. Thanks to Phil for sending it and Fearless Leader John for approving my working the set.

Included in this set are two main gear, two Oleo strut braces, and a tail gear strut. All replace the Revell kit parts, and fit is just like the plastic except it’s stronger and can be re-adjusted as required.

Product Picture

FW-190A Seat Belts
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.95

IPMS/USA thanks the Eduard team once again for sending us this simple, excellent set for the new Eduard FW-190 series. And thanks to Phil and John for running the team…

This seat harness is simplicity itself. There are four parts. That’s it, four. FOUR-lap belts, and over the shoulder harness. Installation? Carefully bend these durable steel belts into place. No paint flaking, no fiddling with parts that are too small for even surgical standard tweezers to hold. Just install and admire.

Far better than tape and paint, the STEEL series seat harnesses should become one of Eduard’s fastest sellers for upgrading kits that don’t have harnesses attached. Competitively priced too!

Thanks once again to Eduard and their groundbreaking technology leaps and for keeping AMS alive in those of us who have it!

Figure 1 - Package

United States WW2 Naval Ensigns (Flags)
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/700

Thanks to Eduard for supplying the set.

Bottom Line: At first glance these steel, foldable flags look bright and colorful, but there are a few limitations. On a real model, they are good enough. Not to mention the unspoken scandal of oversized flags for all 1/700 WW2 warships kits, decals or paper. In that case, Eduard’s flags are at least good enough, sturdier and more flexible than other options.

Packaging

MiG-25 Foxbat Landing Gear (ICM)
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$17.95

We at IPMS continue to thank Ross and his Team at SAC for supporting the IPMS USA reviewer corps with what has turned into a monthly release schedule with extremely useful and well-thought out landing gear additions for the crowd out here in the modeling world.

This review is for the SAC landing gear released for the relatively new 1/48 ICM Mig-25. As to the basic kit, it is well designed and accurate BUT also is not for beginners. A lot of locations are vague on where parts should line up. I have struggled with the afterburner/augmentor petals, and the overall assembly of the basic fuselage. The landing gear is no different, as the angles and installation are to be expected to cause grief. It gets done but prepare yourself mentally and lay off the adult beverages while trying to line everything up.