Figure with leather-brimmed hat, front

USAAF Fighter Pilot WWII - 8th Army (European Battlefields)

Finished

AH-64D Apache "Block II Version - Early"

Finished kit, above

BAE Sea Harrier FRS.1

Option 4

Typ 320 (W142) Soft Top, WWII German Staff Car

Properller

SBD-5 Dauntless Limited Edition

Fuselage

Cessna 152

Right quarter tail

Cessna O-2A Skymaster

Construction

Beobachtungspanzerwagen Sd.Kfz. 251/18 Ausf. A

Completed

Gladiator

Finished

BRE Datsun 510

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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.

Package

JGSDF Komatsu LAV Detail Set
Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$15.30

Hauler has chosen to support a very fine kit with this release of a photo-etch & resin parts for the 1/48 Tamiya LAV. Please note, Tamiya also makes this LAV in 1/35 scale. Like the 1/48 HUMVEE kit Tamiya also produces, this kit can benefit from a bit of bling to really make the finished model pop! This set from Hauler includes a large photo-etch fret, one small photo-etch fret and two pour stubs of resin parts along with a detailed set of instructions to help you to install this array of parts on the Tamiya JGSDF LAV model.

Book Cover

Spotlight On Yakovlev Yak-3
Book Author(s)
Artur Juszczak
Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$24.00

The latest title in the “Spot On” series published by Mushroom Model Publications focuses on Russia’s Yak-3 during World War II. The Yak-3 began development in the summer of 1942, with its first test flight conducted in early 1942. The plane was based on the Yak-1, with the Yak-1M eventually being replaced in production by the Yak-3 in March 1944. By 1946, approximately 4,800 of the aircraft had been built and the fighter distinguished itself as a fast and easy plane to fly, that was well suited for Russian operations in the late war.

Package

Ride Of The Valkyries: The UH-1D in Vietnam
Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Werners Wings
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.00

Werner’s Wings is proud to announce the release of their latest decal sheet Werner's Wings Decal 48-14 Ride of the Valkyries - UH-1D/H in Vietnam. Designed specifically for the Kitty Hawk 1/48th scale kit, these decals will fit any 1/48th scale UH-1D/H kit.

There are 14 new marking options, as well as, stencils in black and yellow for one aircraft. Unique Danger warnings are provided in multiple colors and in English, Vietnamese and Korean.

Werner's Wing Decal 48-14 includes stencils for one aircraft on the same sheet. If you want to do more than one aircraft, additional stencils are available from Werner's Wings with their decal sheet 48-15 UH-1D/H Stencils.

The decals include markings for three Medal of Honor recipients, Major Bruce Crandall and Captain Ed “Too Tall” Freeman from We Were Soldiers fame and CWO Mike Novosel.

Package

Curtiss P-40 B/C - US version - Browning .30 cal and US Type Pitot Tube
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$12.00

Master Model from Poland specializes in turned brass aftermarket details. In recent releases, they have added small resin pieces and small photo-etch parts making them a multi-media aftermarket supplier.

This particular set is devoted to the 1/48 P-40 fans, which many of us are. The set provides PE sighting rings (4x), sighting bead, pitot tube and pitot tip (resin), .30 cal browning cooling jackets (x4), and blasting tubes (x2). The blasting tubes can be installed with either a straight edge or with a tapered edge at the business end of the tube.

The pitot tube tip shape and the cooling jackets make this set appropriate for the P-40B/C in US service.

Instructions

R-73/AA-11 "Archer"
Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$9.95

The R-73 (NATO designation AA-11 Archer) was designed as a replacement for the R-60 (AA-8 Aphid) close-in dogfight missile. The R-73 is an infrared homing missile with thrust vectoring and has been exported to a number of air forces around the world.

As a follow-on to its previous release of the R-60/AA-8 Aphid missile set, Eduard has now released the R-73/AA-11 Archer. The set includes parts for 4 missiles, including seeker caps and engine covers as well as 4 P-72 missile rails. A nice touch by Eduard is that in addition to the missile rails, the set is designed in a modular fashion, much like the actual rails, so you can construct the appropriate pylons for both the MiG-29 and the Su-27 simply by installing different pylon mounts. The set includes enough of the pylon mounts for you to construct four of either type. I elected to construct two of each for illustration purposes.