Sprue sample

T-90A Russian Main Battle Tank

Eduard decals on nose

Crusader

Interior

1992 Mazda Miata

Assembly

P-51B Birdcage

Wheel and bomb bay doors in place

De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI: The Build - Part 2

Exhaust

F6F-5 Hellcat, Part 2

P47 closeup

P-47D & F-86E "Gabreski"

Left side

RG-31 Mk 3 Mine-Protected APC

Left front

ISU-152-2 155mm BL-10 Cannon 2 in 1

Chassis pan assembly

Corvette C7.R

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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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Box Top

F-4 Phantom "Vietnam Aces"
Review Author
Camden Koukol
Dave Koukol
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$24.99

Background

Originally developed as the Navy's primary fleet defense interceptor in the 1950'ss, the F-4 Phantom II rapidly evolved into the mainstay multiple fighter for the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps by the mid '60's. During the Vietnam War air war, the Phantom became the exclusive mount of all 6 American "ace" (airmen scoring 5 or more air-to-air victories) emerging from that conflict.

In this release, Italeri presents 4 of the F-4's flown by Americas Vietnam aces. Markings and parts options are included for Navy F-4J "Showtime 100" flown by Randy Cunningham and Willy Driscoll, Air Force F-4C flown by Robin Olds, an F-4D flown by Jeff Feinstein, and an F-4D flown by Steve Ritchie and Chuck DeBellevue.

Product packaging

Black Bunny F-4J VX-4 Decals
Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.96

Thank you to Furball Aero-Design for providing excellent specific markings set for this very unique aircraft. I am certain that F-4 fans will be thrilled with this set! Thank you to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me review them, I am very appreciative of the chance to contribute back to the scale-modeling community.

The words that capture this decal set are “stunning detail.” Furball chose the striking color scheme of Vandy 1, the gloss black test F-4J aircraft operated by VX-4, providing both the original 1969 markings and the later “bunny” markings. What makes this set different from kit decals and aftermarket decal sets are the nearly 200 crisply-printed stencils printed in white. Modelers often correctly make the argument that stencils are often quickly worn off and not visible, but this aircraft was maintained in “high-polish” with all markings likely there.

Box Art

Fokker (ProfiPack Edition) German WWI Fighter
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$39.95

Eduard has re-released this kit from 2008 as a ProfiPack of the Fokker Dr.1 with markings for six versions included in the Aircraft.

In the box is;

  • 3 x light grey sprues
  • 1 film sheet
  • 1 large decal sheet
  • 1 mask sheet
  • 1 photoetch detail set
  • 1 instruction booklet

The kit consists of 3 main sprues, the sprues are extremely well molded with a little flash but great detail; the decals allow you to finish the aircraft in two different versions with 6 markings to choose from.

Construction

First is the construction of the interior which is well detailed. Photo Etch helps a lot to make this a very impressive cockpit. The fuselage halves joint perfectly.

Next, you join the middle wing.

At this stage, I choose to paint the main colors and add the main decals as I selected to build the D scheme.

Packaging

Middle East Allied Pilot WWII with Dog
Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Aerobonus
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$11.00

Aires Hobby Models is a company in the Czech republic that has been manufacturing resin aftermarkets bits for some few days now. (Actually years.) They produce cockpits, complete engines, detail and conversion sets, and figures. The scales range from 1/72nd to 1/32nd.

Their figures are sold under the banner of Aero Bonus and include a large number of nicely sculpted and molded resin figurines. The subject of this review is a Middle East Allied Pilot WWII with a dog in 1/48th scale. The dog looks to be an Airedale Terrier in need of grooming but it could just be a mutt.

Box Art

F-4S Phantom II: Part 1, Comparison and Cockpit Build
Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Zoukei-Mura
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$75.00

I am honored and privileged to review a beautiful new scale model offering in the Super Wing Series from Zoukei-Mura, Inc. I also wish to extend a very deep appreciation to the IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps for choosing me to review the F-4S variant of the famous McDonnell Phantom II.

The kit was released on 26 JUL 17, following on the heels of a previous F-4J release in the same scale and series. This review will be the first of two sequential reviews. I thought at first I would compare the F-4S kit with the earlier F-4J and describe the build planning in this first review. I actually couldn’t wait to get started, so construction of the cockpit is described here as well. The second and related review will include my adventures in completing the kit build. Both of these reviews will dovetail with previous IPMS reviews of the earlier F-4J kit.