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.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.65

PJ Production has jumped in to help 1/48 Mirage III series model builders. This new release provides two AIM-9B Sidewinders along with the Aero 3 missile rails and the CES-3 pylons featured on the Dassault fighter. This set is probably focused on the new Kinetic 1/48 Mirage III kits, but it should also work well on the Academy, Eduard, Fonderie Minatures, Heller, and Hobby Boss kits; along with the older ESCI kit that has also been re-boxed by Revell and Italeri.

Notable is the re-sealable packaging that PJ Production uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. You will want to be careful handling the resin fins as their small size makes them an easy sacrifice to the carpet monster. Painting instructions are included with the small instruction sheet. I found several air-bubbles in the resin parts, on the nose and the tail fins. Gap filling super glue with baking soda quickly solved the issue.

Review Author
Damon Blair
Published on
Company
Videoaviation
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$13.00

If you are building a 1/32 diorama of a modern USAF aircraft, this Crew Chief and a roll around tool box would be a great addition. This kit also includes two drills, two slim notebooks, and a PC notebook. If you place this kit next to a 1/32 aircraft, it will make a diorama or a display “come alive”.

Inside the package, you get a Crew Chief figure, toolbox, two drills, two manuals, and a PC Notebook. There are a total of 15 parts that make up this kit, all of which are well molded and have a great amount of detail.

The fit of the parts is excellent, with only a small amount of mold seams, all of which are easily filed and sanded smooth. One big note about assembling this kit – build the toolbox first, and doing that will make it easier to pose the figure in a good position. I guessed the height of the toolbox and assembled the figure first, and when I built the toolbox, I discovered that the figure’s arms were not posed the way I wanted them to be.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$5.99

The Kit

This is the detail upgrade for Brengun’s Bachem Natter kit, BRP144001 which I have previously reviewed.

The Brengun Natter kit is a double kit, 2 in a box. The PE/resin upgrade also comes as a double set. So you get two sets of rocket motors, and PE for two Natters. I’ve scanned the PE Fret to show the parts are doubled up. It’s also interesting that there are six part number 8’s and five part number 11s. I needed all of these, as they’re VERY tiny and easily lost.

The PE upgrade is for the cockpit, the rocket motor mounts, and some exterior additions.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

Seats and seatbelts are the two biggest things that are visible in the cockpit. Eduard has been trying to get the look of seatbelts to look like the real thing with the minimal amount of effort for the modeler. They’ve gone from having unpainted photo etch belts, then they were pre-painted, then there was Fabric and lately the Super Fabric. Well enter the latest addition to the seatbelt line, STEEL.

This set contains EIGHT sets of seatbelts for aircraft such as the Bf-109, FW-190 or Me-262. But what is so special about them? Well to start out the belts are .1mm thick at the thickest, such as areas around the buckles. The ‘fabric’ portion is actually only .04mm thick making this realistically thin and easy to shape. They are slightly weathered to make them less stark.