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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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Book Author(s)
Richard A. Franks
Illustrators: Richard J. Caruana, Juraj Jankovic, and Jerry Boucher
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
January 13, 2024
Company
Valiant Wings Publishing
MSRP
$53.00

Valiant Wings Publishing was founded in 2010 under the guidance of Richard A. Franks and Mark Peacock. Valiant Wings has released several series of primarily airplane monographs [Airframe & Miniature, Airframe Album and Airframe Detail series] with the first Airframe Album dedicated to the Heinkel He 219 ‘Uhu’ released in 2012.

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
January 13, 2024
Company
AFV Club
Scale
1:35
MSRP
$52.99

Although I was pleased with the kit by the very end of the build, I was not very happy with the kit itself. When I received the shrink-wrapped review sample, I discovered that two sprues were missing. This is actually the second AFV Club kit I’ve come across with missing parts.

Because these parts were critical to the build, I first looked for a way to get replacements from the manufacturer. Nope. The instructions has a parts list (in this case on page 18) and a replacement order form. This is great and all, but where should it be mailed? There is no address. There is no website URL anywhere on the box or in the instructions and there no customer service number. I was stuck. I turned to eBay and was very fortunate to find a seller who had exactly what I needed. It would seem there may be some manufacturer quality control issues.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
January 12, 2024
Company
Special Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$11.79

The M1A1 2.36-inch AT Rocket Launcher (aka ‘Bazooka’) is a smooth-bore, breech-loading, electrically operated shoulder weapon of the ‘open’ steel tube type. It is fired from the shoulder in either standing, kneeling, sitting, or prone position. The Rocket Launcher is used to launch high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rockets against tanks, armored vehicles, pillboxes, and other emplacements. The ammunition consists of rockets capable of penetrating heavy armor at angles of impact up to 30 degrees. The weapon itself can be aimed up to distances of 300 yards. The Rocket Launcher has a maximum range of 700 yards. The M1A1 improved upon the M1 with less weight, more simplified and reliable design, improved electrical system and removal of a forward hand grip.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
January 12, 2024
Company
Special Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$16.69

The M1917 Browning is a crew-served, belt-fed, water-cooled heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I and World War II, through the Korean War (National Guard and Reserve units had them in their inventory through the 1970s). It was also employed by over a dozen foreign militaries. The M1917 had a long life and modelers have a plethora of options for a model of this ubiquitous machine gun in 1/35 scale.

Special Hobby hit it out of the park with this mixed media kit. A bulk of the parts are 3D printed resin with a PE fret. The kit comes with the machine gun, gun cradle (with traverse and elevation mechanism), tripod, water condensing can, and two sets of ammo cans (wooden WWI and steel WWII) – one closed and one opened. The modeler will have to source a wire piece for the cradle and flexible wire/rubber for the cooling water tube.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
January 10, 2024
Company
ICM
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$113.00

ICM has provided this great new release for review, in 1/48 scale model of the Ki-21-Ib Sally Japanese Heavy Bomber from the early years of WWII. The Sally first flew in late 1936 and went into production in 1938 with both Mitsubishi who designed it and Nakajima. This version is the second production version and was widely used over China and for bomber crew training in Japan.

  • Six light gray sprues
  • One clear sprue
  • One decal sheet
  • One instruction guide

The detail quality is excellent in every way with this kit.

The assembly is quick and easy.

The assembly starts with left hand side of the main fuselage. There are few ejector pin marks that should be filled/cleaned up on both halves of the fuselage.