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.

Book Author(s)
Mark Stille
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$18.00

Osprey Publishing continues to expand its New Vanguard series, this time by adding a book on the US Navy Escort Carriers for the 1942-45 period, I topic I have always find fascinating. Escort Carrier were known as CVE (“Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable”) and despite that popular label, they contributed a big deal towards the Allied victory in WWII.

The book has a very reasonable breakdown of the topic into the following chapters: Introduction, The Rise of the Escort Carrier, Evolution in the Escort Carrier Design, Escort Carrier Air Groups, Weapons and Radar, plus a chapter on Escort Carriers at War and finally a description of each CVE class: Long Island plus Charger (prototype CVEs), Bogue Class, Sangamon Class, Casablanca Class and Commencement Bay Class.

Book Author(s)
Mark Stille; Illustrator: Alan Gilliland
Review Author
Robert Head
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$20.00

Osprey is a publishing house in the United Kingdom that should be a household name to the swarms of us. Osprey continues to expand their Duel series with the 83rd book in this installment. The Duel Series examine the relative strengths and weaknesses of two adversaries across a particular conflict. This particular volume turns its attention to the US Navy Battleships versus the IJN Battleships.

For the Duel series, the chapters are organized as follows:

Book Author(s)
Ross Cowan
Review Author
Robert Head
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$19.00

Osprey is a publishing house in the United Kingdom that should be a household name to the swarms of us. Osprey continues to expand their Warrior series with the 182nd book in this installment. The warrior series examines specific units and armies of a particular nation. In this installment the Legionnaires of Marius, Sulla and Pompey the Great are discussed.

For the Warrior series, the chapters are organized as follows:

Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Avantgarde Model Kits
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$24.95

Avantgarde Model Kits (AMK) of Macau has been manufacturing some wonderfully detailed and unique aircraft models since 2003. The level of detail and finesse in their moldings is on par with those of Hasegawa and WingNut Wings kits. They have released several 1/48th scale aircraft models including the MiG-31, the Fouga CM 170 Magister, and a IAI Kfir C2/C7. One of their recent offerings, and subject of this missive, is a 1/72nd scale version of the IAI Kfir C2/C7.

The IAI Kfir is an is an Israeli-built all-weather, multirole combat aircraft based on a modified French Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine. The Kfir has been deployed by the IAI, Ecuadorian, and Columbian governments.

Book Author(s)
Steve Brooking, Wojtek Matusiak, Piotr Sikora
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$29.00

This is the latest installment in the Polish Wings series. I was not able to locate any information on author Steve Brooking other than references to this current tome. Wojtek Matusiak lives in Warsaw, Poland. He is a well-known Polish aviation history author. He is a specialist on the Spitfire and has published both in English and Polish. He has authored, or co-authored the following books: Classic Warbirds 11: Merlin PR Spitfires In Detail (2009); Polish Wings 6: Supermarine Spitfire I/II (2007); Polish Wings 13: Spitfire IX (2011); Polish Wings 15: Spitfire IX 1944-1946 (2012); Polish Wings 16: Spitfire XVI (2013); Polish Wings 21: MiG-29 ‘‘Kościuszko Squadron’ Commemorative Schemes (2016).