Something Went Wrong Somewhere

German Type G4 Partisanenwagen

Finished front

F-15E Strike Eagle

Finished Pilot Next to Harrier (Harrier Not Included)

British Sea Harrier Pilot, Falklands War, 1982

Flaps and aileron hinge details before assembly.

PBM-5A Mariner

Close Up

SA365N2 Dauphin 2 (Dolphin) French Marine Helicopter

Ready for painting 1

F4U-1 Corsair, Part 2 – Engines, Wings, and Things

Finished

Spitfire Mk.XVI Bubbletop with Late Wings Overtree

Finished 6

MiG-31B/BS Foxhound

Finished model

Ukrainian Submarine "Zaporizhzhia" 641 Foxtrot Class

Photo 2

Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. N Deutsches Afrikakorps

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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.

Box Art

1982 Pontiac Firebird
Review Author
Haylee Perdue
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/16
MSRP
$48.95

The 1982 Firebird, with its sibling, the Chevy Camaro, introduced GM’s third generation of F Body sports coupes. For 1982, the Firebird was downsized from previous models, and featured new styling with an added emphasis on aerodynamics, and was offered in three trim options, with the V8 powered Trans Am being the top end performance version.

Box art

Lockheed F-35A Lightning II
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$119.99

Hobbico and Italeri USA once again earn appreciation from IPMS USA for providing a sample of a long-awaited product, the Italeri 1/32 F-35 Lightning II. Of course, the usual bow and thanks go to IPMS USA leadership for sending me this kit!

This kit is a medium sized box containing Italeri’s standard medium gray plastic, yellow-tinted clear canopy and other parts, a photoetch fret for some details, a small sheet of masking for only some/part of the Low-observable (LO) panels, and an excellenft Cartograf decal sheet with markings for US, Israeli, British, Australian, and Netherlands users.

Initial impression is good; the weapons bay will be the hard part, and this was proven out in construction. The detail is there and if you are not in a hurry will reward you with an excellent focus point for your efforts.

Box Top

M4A2 76mm Red Army
Review Author
Max Welliver
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$42.99

The next Cyber-Hobby Orange Box offering is a Red Army M4A2(76) tank. A total of 4,102 M4A2 medium tanks were sent to the U.S.S.R. under Lend-Lease during WWII. To make the kit more valuable, the kit includes a fine 1/35 scale Maxim machine gun as well!

Opening the Box

This thin, side-opening Dragon box is filled with a nice amount of parts. The sprues are molded in light grey plastic and have some really detailed cast textures and weld seams.

The kit includes:

  • Seven sprues
  • One clear sprue
  • One small cable
  • Two small sheets of PE
  • Two lengths of DS track
  • One gun mantlet cover made of the same DS material
  • One small decal sheet

They provide decals for two tanks:

Package

F-35A Lightning II Landing Gear (Ita)

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$21.95

The normal thanks to Ross at SAC and his working crew for developing and producing an excellent metal set to replace the kit items, and IPMS USA for providing it to me to use!

Once again the jackpot is hit with another SAC gear replacement set. For the unaware, the Italeri 1/32 F-35A is a rather weighty model, and the kit gear is provided in multiple parts, all plastic. SAC does a few modifications such as incorporating the kit side braces into the main gear and nose gear, and molding them in one part each. With 13 total metal parts, including drag braces and extensions, shimmy damper and steering pump, this set makes a simple kit addition. This, when installed and combined with the trunnions and drag braces, makes a sturdy arrangement.

Front cover

A-6 Intruder Units 1974-96

Book Author(s)
Rick Morgan
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$23.00

Rick Morgan graduated from the University of Missouri in 1978 and joined the US Navy. His US Navy career included over 2,400 flight hours in the EA-6B Prowler and other naval aircraft with 41 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. His website claims he achieved 447 and ½ carrier landings. I’m afraid to ask about the ½ carrier landing…. Rick contributed articles to the “The Hook” prolifically, twice being awarded “Contributor of the Year”. He has a deep interest in aviation and trains. Rick has been published by Schiffer and Osprey Publishing. He currently works in the aviation industry somewhere in the Midwest (I’m guessing Missouri). Check out his web page at rickmorganbooks.com