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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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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.

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QuickBoost Tornado Antenna

Tornado GR.1 Antennas
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$4.95

The PANAVIA Tornado was the RAF’s standard attack bomber from the early eighties until just a few years ago, serving across the World and in combat and proving itself to be one of the finest of Cold War military aircraft. Many kits have been issued of the type, including three 1/32 kits. The initial Revell kit was released in 1985 and was very basic for a kit of its size. This was replaced by an all-new and far better detailed tooling in 1996, one that has been re-released at least 8 times since, including a Revell-Monogram boxing in the US. This has been supplemented since 2020 by a new-tool kit of the GR.4 from Italeri.

The Tornado GR.1 was a sophisticated aircraft and as such was festooned by a large variety of antennas and aerials for its multitude of electronic gizmos. The ones in the kit are rather thick and not always correctly shaped, and this new set from Quickboost by Aires solves these issues.

Book Cover

NAA Mustang III Europe 1944-1945

Book Author(s)
Darius Karnas and Artur Juszczak
Review Author
Michael Furry
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.99

This is a very simple publication. The subject of this book is the Mustang III as deployed by the RAF in Europe during 1944-1945. The book is 16 pages long and features three view line drawings in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, profile artwork for 13 aircraft with English captions, and a final page of captions for the profiles in Polish. A scale is not given for the profile art but they appear to be close to 1/32. The three view drawings include rivet lines and these would assist the modeler in adding rivets to a given model. The profile art will provide the modeler with some artistic inspiration for weathering and painting effects. As stated above, this is a simple book with one theme, scale drawings, and profile art.

Thank you to Casemate for the review sample.

Cover page

Southeast Asia Intruders (1)
Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$22.00

AOA Decals has provided IPMS/USA reviewer corps with a wonderful decal set for Vietnam War era markings for US Marine Corps A-6A, A-6B, and KA-6D Intruders. The rollout of this decal sheet coincides with the 2023 release of the 1/72 scale Trumpeter A-6A Intruder.

This 1/72 decal sheet covers all four USMC A-6 Intruder squadrons during the Vietnam War:

  • VMA(AW)-224 Bengals - USS Coral Sea (1971-72)
  • VMA(AW)-225 Vikings - Da Nang, South Vietnam (1969-71)
  • VMA(AW)-242 Batmen - Da Nang, South Vietnam (1966-70)
  • VMA(AW)-533 Hawks - Chu Lai, South Vietnam (1967-69) & Nam Phong (“The Rose Garden”), Thailand (1972-73)

This set also includes markings for MERs, fuel tanks, and crew helmets.In addition, it includes special Easter 1970 bomb graffiti for VMA(AW)-225 and there are reference pictures to show the look of the ordnance and decal placement.

Book Cover

F-80 Shooting Star in Detail and Scale
Book Author(s)
Bert Kinzey; Art by Rock Roszak
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Detail & Scale, Inc.
MSRP
$21.99

Detail & Scale publications should be well known to all but the newest to our hobby. They have a long history of publishing well-written and documented, photo-rich books covering all the variants and details as well as model kits available.

This is volume twenty in their new series of publications. The book is 102 pages long with 250 photos of which approximately 180 are in color, and 12 aircraft color profiles.

The book is laid out in the standard D&S format. Beginning with the introduction followed by a well-written history of the aircraft. Next, there is a history of each of the variants built(excluding the T-33 which is a book unto itself) and the F-80 in the Korean War.

Package

AGM-84D Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, AIM120C AMRAAM, AIM-9L/M Sidewinder Missile Sets
Review Author
Chris Martin
Published on
Company
Fab Scale
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$18.50

Summary

These highly detailed missiles would make a great addition to any of today’s super detailed models. The text on the labels is legible with magnification. There is minimal construction, but be prepared to spend a lot of time applying the numerous small decals.

Background

The following are excerpts from the website. The description for the AGM-84D is from https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-84.html

The AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) is a new generation air-to-air missile. It has an all-weather, beyond-visual-range capability and is scheduled to be operational beyond 2000.The AMRAAM is being procured for the Air Force, U.S. Navy and America's allies.