Overall

CF-18A Hornet “Canada Special Marking 2012”

Nose gap

PV-1 Ventura

trailer right front

Tecnokar Trailer with 20' Tank

Wheel mockup

Her Majesty’s Estafette

Deck decals

USS Oriskany

Engine in nacelle

Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Nick) - Finished

Wildcat tail

Dogfight Double Gift Set: Nakajima B5N2 "Kate"/Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat

Sprue Sample

Sopwith Camel F.1 “First World War Centenary”

Right side

IDF Sho't Kal Gimel Type II

Fuselage parts

Mirage IIIE/O/R/RD/EE/EA

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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.

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.

Package

Hurricane Mk.IIC
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
December 17, 2023
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$59.99

Italeri has re-released its Hurricane Mk.IIC in 1/48 scale. The original release was from the early 2010’s and included a Hurricane Mk.I, Mk.I/Trop, Sea Hurricane Mk.I and Hurricane Mk.IIC. Inspecting at the parts (the photoetch sheet) you must wonder if at some point there the plan was to include a Mk.IIB in the family but to my knowledge it has never been released. Based on the engineering of the wing, you can probably model a MkIID and, if you get a replacement oil housing probably a Mk.IV as well, assuming you know your way around the Hawker Hurricane (there are plenty of online references).

Cover

F-16C/D Wild Ducks
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
December 17, 2023
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$17.00

Two Bobs has released a decal sheet covering an anniversary scheme for the 309th Fighter Squadron “Wild Ducks” back when it was flying the F-16 C/D.

Two paint schemes are provided in this sheet. The first one is a striking mix of blue, grey and white strips with Donald Duck holding a lightning bolt on the blue rudder. The second one is a great looking desert camouflage for the first F-16 to claim a kill on an Iraqi Mig-25 with an AIM-120 (although at the time of the kill the airframe was wearing the standard two-grey livery).

I want to point out that both schemes are special commemorative schemes for the 80th anniversary of the 309th FS. Both schemes were designed by Ssgt Michael Cichonsky (portrayed in the instructions sitting on the tail of the F-16C) and both look amazing.

The decal sheet includes all stencils needed for both aircraft, meaning one sheet allows you to build both the -C and the -D. You don’t even have to choose which one to build!

Package

BCATP Ansons
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
December 17, 2023
Company
Iliad Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.00

Illiad Design continues to expand its line of 1/48 scale decals, this time with a set of markings for the Avro Anson. The decals were designed for the recent Airfix model

This decal sheet covers 6 airframes from the BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan). All markings cover airframes that saw service in Canada: Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Some of the airframes are in camouflage of Dark Earth and Dark Green with lowers in Sky, plus some high visibility markings in yellow, others are fully painted in yellow and there is everything in between (yellow bottom and camouflaged tops, yellow bottoms, and partially camouflaged tops, etc).

Cover Image

B-24 Liberator in Detail and Scale
Book Author(s)
Bert Kinzey & Rock Roszak
Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
December 16, 2023
Company
Detail & Scale, Inc.
MSRP
$21.99

Detail & Scale’s original volume on the B-24 Liberator and its variants was published in 2000. Since the first volume was published, more information regarding the B-24 and its variants has become available and more photographs of the B-24 in service have surfaced. In addition, the authors were granted access to the interiors of the B-24D preserved at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and the PB4Y-2 Privateer preserved at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, to take reference photographs.

The book is primarily a visual reference book, so there is just a brief overview of the B-24 and its many users around the word. The history section includes a nice table explaining the two letter suffixes used to designate where a particular aircraft was built. As explained later in the book, the suffixes can be very useful in narrowing down some of the details of a particular aircraft due production differences between the various manufacturers/plants.

Product

Military Equipment Armed Forces of Ukraine Acrylic Paint Set

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
December 15, 2023
Company
ICM
Scale
n/a
MSRP
$12.99

ICM is a hobby company based out of Ukraine. They have provided IPMS-USA a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set for review.

In the Box

The paint set contains six (6) 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix when shaking. The following colors are provided:

  • Gun Metal (1027)
  • Deep Brown (1008)
  • US Dark Green (1072)
  • Buff (1041)
  • Black (1002)
  • 4BO Green (1073)

Straight out of the bottle, the paint’s viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to have primer applied prior to painting. Volume wise, the paint takes up about 70% of the bottle and has “room” to add thinner if so desired.