GI

WWII "God's Blessing" 6 Figure Set

Port Wing Exposed

Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB, Part 2

Left side of munition vehicle

Das Werk Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper VK3.02

Interior

Batmobile: 1989 Movie

Cockpit and canopy

Fiat G.50bis Freccia “Regia Aeronautica”

LandingGear

Bristol Blenheim Mk.1F

Assembly

PACV Hovercraft (U.S. Army)

Completed model

Railway Semaphore

Finished

British Army Centurion Mk 1 Main Battle Tank

Unpainted PE locations

Soviet BTR-70 APC Early Version

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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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Package

Metal Landing Gear
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$15.95

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the massive Boeing 777, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me….

This is ‘du rigeur’ SAC white metal upgrade to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of 9 parts: Two main struts, two strut retraction cylinders, the nose gear, retraction arm, and a drag brace, and two centering and leveling cylinder assemblies for the main trucks.

The landing gear on the 777 is a monster in real life; it has six wheel/tire assemblies on each wing, and is quite a piece of kit for supporting this highly-successful airliner and cargo hauler. On the kit, it makes sense to have similar strength. For 1/144 scale, it’s a big model. Zvezda’s plastic is pretty strong, but the SAC gear makes it better…

Product picture

Airbrush Cleaner
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Tamiya
MSRP
$8.00

I’ve got my spray booth set up, my paint mixed, and the compressor has been powered up and its ready to go. The paint cup is attached to the airbrush with anticipation of an enjoyable painting session. I pull the trigger…………and nothing. After fiddling with the pressure and air adjustments on the airbrush and compressor, I realize that my airbrush is jammed up with dried paint. There’s not anything to do but shut down the painting session and get the airbrush cleaned up.

That is where Tamiya’s #87089 Airbrush Cleaner steps in. You’ll need a cleaner that can loosen and dissolve dried paint, and this product is very good at doing just that. You know the drill. Disassemble your airbrush and clean each part carefully and completely. I use a small wire brush dipped in some Airbrush Cleaner that has been poured into a very small cup. Wearing gloves, I carefully scrub the airbrush parts with the wire brush, dry them with a lint-free cloth and I’m ready to go!

Product picture

Su-25K Frogfoot Control Lever and Pedals
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$3.50

Big sprue attachment points and soft plastic are not a good combination for small parts. The KP/Smer kits have just his problem. They are great kits and the most accurate Su-25K available, but there are some things that you can do better.

Enter Quickboost. This two-piece resin upgrade is for the cockpit. Perfectly cast in light grey resin this set has a control lever and pedals. The detail that is on the control lever alone is beautiful. Every switch is there and they are all perfectly cast. The pedals are beautifully done on the control yoke. The pedals are so nice that they have the anti-slid surface. A good paint and dry brush bring out all the detail. These parts are simple replacement for the kit parts.

Easy to remove parts with far superior detail and an inexpensive price tag makes this another winner from Quickboost.

Highly recommended

Product picture

Su-25K Frogfoot Landing Light
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$4.75

The Su-25 is the Soviet equivalent of the A-10 first utilized in Afghanistan. This mud mover is pretty well represented in 1/48th scale by KP/Smer. As always there are ways to improve what comes in the box.

Quickboost has taken to updating the Frogfoot to a whole different level. This particular set is designed to upgrade the lights. Packaged in a typical Quickboost resealable package with card stock backing has two resin sprues. The first is light grey resin which holds the two reflectors. The second resin part is molded in clear resin. It has the bulbs and two new clear resin lens.

To use the set you simply have to drill out the landing light hole in the wing. Then you paint the reflector, add the bulb, and use the clear resin lens. Done. Simple, easy and effective.

This light set will replace the kit parts which are not very accurate looking. The Quickboost set is very realistic, easy to use, and inexpensive.

Highly recommended.

ScaleMates-supplied sneak-peek of box art

Convair F-106 Delta Dart Interceptor
Review Author
J.R. Sharp
Published on
Company
Meng Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$40.00

Initial Impressions

With the popularity of the MENG F-102 kit, it was a given that a 106 would be coming down the pike soon. When it was announced, there was a lot of fanfare and anticipation in the new offering. Being a fan of the century series, it was also natural that I would pick one up to see what it offered. The 102 was far from a “perfect” build for me and I was hoping that MENG learned their lessons from the past and integrated improvements into the “six”.

Upon inspecting the sprues I found a lot of improvements over the previous 102 offering. Cockpits had a much greater detail (molded in seatbelts, etc.) as well as parts to build both types of panel and ejection seats. A PE fret was added with some detail items, and a crew ladder. The radome was now an option, as the radar and front maintenance panels could be displayed open, providing a great static display. These items were well-cast with little flash.