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
Jim Stepanek
Published on
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$26.95

Oh man, did Revell to a number on this kit. WOW!! You build a stock ’57 Ford Del Rio or build a gasser with the parts contained in the kit. This appears to be a follow up kit to ’57 Ford Del Rio kit that builds stock or as a police vehicle.

The engine comes with the parts for a single or dual quad intake manifold, fender well headers and 3 different air filters. All the engine parts fit together very well.

Revell did an interior platform with separate side panels and seats that feature wonderful engraving. I departed from the kit and installed 4 bucket seats and a console.

The Ford long roof body Revell made is magnificent! Door handles, rear lift gate, hood ornament, mirror, and windshield wipers are all separate parts. I choose to leave some of those pieces off in my desire to make build a mild custom car. I also modified side trim by removing the top portion. I used HOK planet green paint to finish off the kit.

Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.00

Master Model has released three new gun barrel sets for the P-38 Lightning, a plane I love. This one is listed as the late version with 4 x .50 cal Brownings with covered cooling jackets & late 20mm cannon tips. These are mostly seen on J and L versions but pays to check your references.

The detail is beautiful with drilled out barrel ends.

Construction depends on which kit you are using. Many have separate barrels so these are just simple replacements. Other kits (like the Hobby Boss) you will need to cut off the original barrels and drill holes to put the barrels in. Either way the detail on these is much better than any of the kit guns I have.

The instruction sheet shows a few period pictures of P-38 noses and a top view drawing showing the differing barrel lengths for the .50s.

Thanks to Master Model and IPMS/USA for the review kit.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Ampersand Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

Ampersand’s latest book continues to expand on their Visual History format as this edition follows up on David Doyle’s “Dragon Wagon Part 1: A Visual History of the U.S. Army’s Heavy Tank Transporter 1941-1955”. Ampersand got their start in 1993 when Pat Stansell distributed a free issue of Military Miniatures in Review at the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta. Ampersand joined forces with HobbyLink Japan in 2008 and have continued to expand their military AFV publications ever since.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.99

The advance THANK YOU to Furball aero design for sending IPMS USA these decals, and the fearless leaders at the reviewer corps for allowing me once again to do a review!

Every once in a while a product comes along that makes you wonder “why didn’t someone do this before?” In this case, framing on F-105’s is the subject.

I have struggled myself to paint the framing on canopies. Anything below 1/48 scale, “forget it”, and even then when it was attempted by yours truly, well, it was really awful. Because it’s so noticeable around the focal point of a model, the cockpit, office, whatever, it generally became an exercise in frustration.

These new decals by Furball, however, take care of the problem. You get two sets of decals: one designed for the F-105D single-seat and one set for the F-105F/G two seat models.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
The Ampersand Publishing Group
MSRP
$22.95

Ampersand's latest book continues to expand on their Visual History format, as this edition follows up with David Doyle's "251 Half-Track: A Visual History of the German Army's Sd.Kfz 251 Armored Half-Tracks". Ampersand got their start in 1993 when Pat Stansell distributed a free issue of Military Miniatures in Review at the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta. Ampersand joined forces with HobbyLink Japan in 2008 and have continued to expand their military AFV publications ever since.

True to the Visual History Series name, the focus of this book is on the visual, detailing the development and service history of the German Army's Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen. This is slightly expanded from Ampersand's standard 120 page version of their Visual History format, and it runs 136 pages packed with large, clear photographs.