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.

Book Author(s)
Daniel Taylor
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$42.95

This is the first Then and Now book that I have read, and I am hooked. The period photographs and history are supplemented with after the battle photographs. The research that goes into finding these key places in photographs is amazing and really adds to the story with the human element of seeing the location years later and imagining the scene before you.

Casemate Publishers website describes this book as such,

Review Author
Joe Staudt
Published on
Company
Agora Models
Scale
1/8
MSRP
$1,599.00

This review covers packs 4, 5, and 6 of the Agora Models Jaguar build. Please see part 1 of this review for the first 3 packs and more information about the kit.

Pack 4 of this kit starts with building the spare wheel and tire, and then continues with assembling the front subframe.

The wire wheels are probably the stars of this kit and are certainly the part I was both most looking forward to and most dreading. You build the wheels spoke by spoke, 120 spokes per wheel, in a painstaking process that is fear-inspiring for someone as fumble-fingered as I am. Thankfully, the first wheel to be built is intended as the spare tire, so any novice mistakes that can’t be repaired can at least be relegated to the trunk…er, boot. Agora also provides a video of the build process on their website so you can see the procedure in action before you attempt it yourself.

Review Author
Michael Oberholtzer
Published on
Company
Special Hobby

The SF.260 is a 1964 Italian design used by military forces around the world as a basic trainer. Sleek and aerobatic, it is still flown today by aerial display teams and Air Combat USA as well as private owners. The trainer version was in service for over 40 years.

Knowing my interest in colorful trainers, John Noack asked if I would like to review the kit. I jumped at the offer, cleared my workbench, and began this, my first ever kit review.

Special Hobby has been a producer of unusual aircraft for many years, and I have a bunch of their kits. As time has passed and technology has improved their models have gotten much more refined. This kit has fine surface detail, small sprue gates, and some flash. There are no ejector pin marks in visible areas, but there are small sink marks on the fuselage halves where the alignment pins are molded, and a larger one on an antenna not used in my version.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$49.95

Eduard has provided IPMS/USA reviewer corps with a 1/72nd scale Limited Edition P-51D Mustang “Aces of the Eighth” Dual Combo kit. In WWII, The Eighth Air Force (aka: Mighty Eighth) earned a reputation as a great warfighting organization. From May 1942 to July 1945, they flew over Nazi-occupied Europe and complied an impressive war record which included 566 Aces (261 fighter pilots with 31 having 15 or more victories and 305 enlisted gunners).

This kit has markings for twelve (12) P-51D Mustang Aces for you to choose from. The hardest part may be choosing which two (2) you will want to build.

In the Box

There are two (2) complete kits in this boxing and it is encased in a beautifully illustrated top open box. The tooling is brand new for this scale and created in 2024.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$140.99

ICM has provided this great new release for review, in 1/48 scale model of the B-26B Marauder. This is based on the original release from a few months earlier this is the D-Day Anniversary version with addition ground and flight crew included.

  • Eight grey Sprues
  • One Clear Sprue
  • One Decal sheet
  • One Instruction guide including printed mask templates
  • One instruction sheet for the figures
  • Plus, one sprue of the Flight and Ground crew

The detail quality is excellent in every way with this kit, crisp and detailed molding has become the norm for ICM.

The assembly is quick and easy.

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

Stages 1 to 6 are the assembly of the interior parts of the left fuselage. Be careful with G17 and G26 as they are very fragile. No issues were found in these stages.