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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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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.

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Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.95

Sincere appreciation from IPMS USA goes to Eduard for their having once again provided a sample copy of a long-awaited product, the Multiple Ejector Rack, and the usual wave of thanks to the IPMS USA leadership for ensuring I received it!

First off: when someone develops a B-52F/D for a Vietnam diorama, I’ll be ordering an extra two of these sets… because the external weapon pylons on some B-52’s used four of these!

The MER was developed along with TER’s to increase the number of weapons carried by A-4, F-4, A-6 and others… it uses many common parts with the TER to increase carry from three to six weapons.

This set contains 75 parts for three MER’s; the resin bodies and beams in two parts, Sway braces with ejector pins, Two types (early and late) MER hanging lugs and braces to put them on the aircraft carrying beams, and PE Switch plates to put in the hollow end of the MER itself. To finish, you are also provided with a small decal sheet.

Book Author(s)
Robert Pęczkowski
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$24.50

Robert Pęczkowski is part of the Wydawnictwo Stratus publishing group as a co-owner, publisher, and author. Robert attended Politechnika Rzeszowska from 1983 to 1988. Robert has written a number of books including the major work in English on the Polish air Force of WW2. He is married with two children.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$34.95

Thank you to the Eduard Company for sending this detail set for review, it is always a pleasure to see what your new products bring to the scale modeling world. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us modeling products to review, the reviews posted, and the news spread to the world.

Overall Summary

The polished brass photo-etch fret arrived in a standard cellophane envelope with the colorful Eduard label and cardboard backing. A color assembly guide was neatly folded inside, with bilingual labels. The fret is about 5.65 x 4 inches, hosting 8 major pieces and numerous hinges, pins, and ribs, with the larger parts crisply relief-etched. Kit areas to be modified are indicated in the instructions.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$49.99

You’ve got to give Dragon Models some real credit – they’re willing to put out the oddball kit now and then, and to do it with class. The U.S.-made T54-E1 tank (not to be confused with the Russian T54) was one of the several attempts in the mid-50’s to upgrade the M48 from its 90mm gun to something with a bit more punch. Three different approaches to this idea were initially attempted, including this one, which clearly owes its ancestry to the famous French AMX-13 tank developed around the same time. The idea, of course, was that an autoloading main gun would eliminate the need for a human loader, and would permit extremely rapid firing during combat. There were a couple of problems with this idea, however. First, once the nine-round “magazine” was expended, someone typically had to exit the vehicle to reload it – not something you necessarily want to do under fire.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$29.95

Thank you to the Eduard Company for sending this detail set for review, it is always a pleasure to see what Eduard’s new products bring to the scale modeling world. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us modeling products to review, the reviews posted, and the news spread to the world.

The photoetch frets arrived in excellent shape in a sealed plastic package with the distinctive Eduard knight logo. One cockpit fret is 2.75 x 1.6 inches on polished metal with color-etched laminated details, and the other fret is 3.1 x 2.75 inches on polished brass. Side consoles and instrument panel parts are provided for either a F2H-2 or F2H-2P. Internal and external details for one model are on these two frets. I particularly appreciate having three clear HUD pieces included on the film part. Only one is required, but I need two of them to complete the set. You can speculate why! I worked up the fighter version for this review.