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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
Michael Reeves
Published on
December 14, 2023
Company
ICM
MSRP
$12.99

ICM is one of a few Ukrainian companies soldiering on through an intense war to continuously create exciting new products for the modeler. They have been releasing amazing kits and increasingly useful paint sets that are tied to specific themes. This sample features paints that can be used to paint infantry equipment and weapons from both World Wars. ICM provides a useful diagram on the back of the package showing two halves with painting colors for guns, gear, and tools from WWI and WWII respectively.

This particular set contains six 12ml wide mouth bottles of paint that have the same viscosity to me as Vallejo Model Color paints. I prefer the dropper bottles that Vallejo and AMMO have as these wider mouth bottles can lead to messes when transferring from your bottle to your palette or airbrush. The six colors are:

Book Author(s)
Ben Skipper
Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
December 7, 2023
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$28.95

This is a brief overview of this rather expansive operation offered in their Battle Craft series of books. It is in paperback format with heavy stock glossy pages with many illustrations inserted among the text. It starts with brief biographies of the primary commanders on both sides and then has a basic order of battle of the units involved down to the divisional level. Next is a section on some of the vehicles present during the campaign. The choices are a bit odd, however. For the Allies, the Cromwell tank is chosen. This vehicle, while present, could hardly be said to have played a major role in the campaign, that distinction for the Allies going to the ubiquitous Sherman. For the Germans, the Panther tank is the subject and while a genuine threat to all Allied armor, it was in the minority on this battlefield being outnumbered by various types of self-propelled assault guns.

Review Author
Dana Mathes
Published on
December 6, 2023
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1:35
MSRP
$6.50

The Company

AOA is a relatively new decal manufacturer that has become known for their aircraft decal sets (several popular scales). Their product offering has placed special emphasis on Vietnam-era US naval aircraft. AOA’s products are available from the larger distributors such as Sprue Brothers, Hannants, BNB, etc. This product is their first offering for an armor model subject.

The Subject

This decal set’s subject is rather unique: 1/35 M1A2 SEP V2 Abrams in a 2018 NATO training competition configuration. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge (SETC) was an annual, multinational tank platoon competition held from 2016 to 2018 at the Grafenwöhr Training Area, Germany, and hosted by the U.S. Army Europe and the German Army. At the SETC, crews from NATO and non-NATO partners competed in defensive and offensive operations (see Wikipedia).

Book Author(s)
Ian Baxter
Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
December 5, 2023
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$28.95

This book is another offering of the Casemate illustrated Series and in this case deals with the destruction of the German Army Group South by the Soviet forces. The book offers five color maps, one for each section/area where the two armies fought. In addition, you will find 20 commanders’ profiles. Both sides are given 10 commanders each involved in the conflict. The book describes 5 main battles and each has the order of battle for both the Soviets and the Germans. Finally, there are 13 profiles for equipment used during the battle by both the Germans and Soviets.

As in every book of this particular series you will find a timeline of events at the beginning of the book, starting with the retreat of the Army Group South to the Dnieper River during August, 1943, and ending with the participation of the Soviet Army in the Silesian and Prague