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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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Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Scale Aircraft Conversions adaptation of the F-16 Light landing gear in white metal for the 1/48 Kinetic kit.

The set contains the aft gear bulkhead along with the retraction struts. The nose gear includes a separate nose gear and its retraction strut and oleo scissor.

This set is for the light versions of the F-16 (-1 to -20 versions or the F-16A/B variants).

Also included in this set is a nose gear door landing light, and an altered main gear bulkhead, which makes the installation of the main gear easier.

These are a direct replacements for the ones found supplied with the kit with just a little more detail.

Overall this is highly recommended for stronger landing gear and added detail and is a great addition to the Kinetic kit.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Tamiya
MSRP
$15.50

Tamiya has made available a group of 4 texture paints and this review highlights one of those products, namely Tamiya’s “Soil Effect” texture paint.These paints are water-based and come in powder snow, snow, and “soil effect-dark earth”. Several other colors have been discontinued.

An appropriate description of this paint, describing the texture would be, “ gritty toothpaste”, or “damp salt”. Straight from the bottle, the paint does not look like paint at all, but rather a paste consisting of fine grit.

I chose to apply some of this paint to a diorama base for a dinosaur. The base was already covered with “ground”, “rocks” and “vegetation” but there were areas in which the material had worn off a bit, creating a perfect test bed.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Master Details
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$14.95

Product provided by: Master Details via the reviewer’s wallet

Master details produces and distributes an expanding range of pilot figures and details for 1/32 scale projects; for now their focus is on the HK B-17, but they have other items in their lineup including an HE-111 Cockpit for the massive Revell kit.

In this case, the pilot figure is an early Vietnam-era U.S. pilot with four different heads cast in metal (One with just the helmet and chin strap, one with the visor up and oxygen mask in place, and one with the visor down and oxygen mask in place, and one with visor down and no oxygen mask), an oxygen hose for the mask in metal, and seven resin body parts including two legs, and four separate arms, with a torso. The kit also includes a unit patch decal sheet for the shoulder patches frequently displayed on the flight jackets of the time.

Book Author(s)
Gordon L. Rottman
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$19.00

The book, Vietnam War US & Allied Combat Equipment by Osprey Publishing, goes into details of the combat equipment used by both the US and Allied forces. The very-well written and the illustrations really make this a great reference and history book for any library. The book will come in handy when modelling any US or Allied soldiers in the Vietnam War and can assist in painting and adding additional details.

The pictures and drawings of the equipment are very good and some I had never seen before.

I whole heartily recommend this book to everyone with an interest in US and Allied soldiers in the Vietnam conflict. It is very well written and very informative.

Thanks go to Osprey Publishing for providing this book to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them.

Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.00

The 244th Sentai (Fighter Group / Fighter Regiment) was formed in 1941 and charged with the defense of Tokyo. As apparent from the options included in this decal set, the unit started flying Nates and later turned in their Ki-27s for Ki-61s & Ki-100s.