Wing fuel tank

Hs-129B-2 Winter Camouflage Limited Edition

Rear view

Vietnam Scooters

Rear End

Pz. Kpfw. III Ausf. A (Sd Kfz 141)

Track detail

M109A7 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer

Front view

XB-35 Flying Wing

Decal sheet

Yakovlev YAK-1, 1941

Fuselage 1

Yokosuka MXY7 OHKA Model 22

Finished

F8U-2 Crusader "Jolly Rogers" (2 kits)

Assembled fuselage

A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 "341st Flying Group"

Radio rack

SBD-5 "Battle of Philippines Sea"

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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.

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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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Box Art

Mag Ach 1/2 Middle East War Series (50th Anniversary The Six-Day War)

Review Author
Peter Bucher
Published on
August 29, 2016
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$59.99

When I opened the box I was amazed at how many parts there were. It reminded me of the days when Dragon would include an entire sprue to provide 1 or 2 parts there are 11 yes 11 parts sprues in this kit. HEre is the breakdown of the entire kits contents.

  • 11-Grey Sprues
  • 2-DS Sprues
  • 1-Set of DS Tracks
  • 1-Small Sprue with two DS Polycaps
  • 2 Clear Parts Sprues
  • 1-Sheet of Photo Etch Parts
  • 1-Metal Tow Cable
  • Decals
  • Instructions

Background

The term Magach is short for Merkevet Giborei Hayil whish is literally Chariot of War Heroes. The Magach 1 is based on the M-48A1 and the MAgach2 is based is the M48A2C. a portion of the Israeli Magach 1 tanks were captured from Jordanian forces during the six day war. I have chosen to model a Jordanian M48A1 in Jordanian national markings

Front Cover

Military Miniatures in Review #63
Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
August 29, 2016
Company
Ampersand Publishing
MSRP
$9.95

If you’ve never read a copy of Military Miniatures in Review (MMiR), you need to. It’s an 80-page, full color magazine covering armor modeling so maybe if you build just planes, you don’t necessarily need to read it, but you’ll still be missing out. MMiR is printed on heavy glossy paper, with excellent photography, and well-written articles, with just the right amount of humor mixed in to keep it light, while still covering each subject very well.

This issue has ten build articles, which cover each model build, not necessarily step-by-step, but in a way that the reader can follow the build as it’s going together. The authors are careful to point out any issues with the build, and they provide instruction and details of the builds from start to finish, all the way through weathering and how each base was built for the models displayed in a diorama, or vignette.

Box Art

LAV-25 Piranha

Review Author
Phillip Cavender
Published on
August 28, 2016
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$27.99

This kit by Italeri is a new release for 2016. The LAV-25 was developed in the 1980’s in response to the LAV program which was started during the late 1970’s. After several companies submitted their plans, General Motors of Canada was selected as the manufacturer for the Army and the Marine Corp. Later the Army withdrew their plans due to funding issues. The Marine Corp continued and eventually six variants of the LAV-25 were procured. This kit represents one of those variants: The LAV-25 with the 25mm M242 Bushmaster Automatic cannon. The LAV-25 I will be constructing represents the vehicle named “Croaker” from Charlie Company, 2nd LAI Battalion during Operation Desert Storm as seen in D'Angina, James, and Henry Morshead. LAV-25: The Marine Corps' Light Armored Vehicle. Botley, Oxford: Osprey, 2011. Print. Decals are provided for this version in the kit.

Front Cover

Model Art 946, August 2016
Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
August 27, 2016
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$29.99

Model Art Modeling Magazine is an excellent monthly from Japan providing an abundance of modeling subjects in each issue. It doesn’t matter what your modeling focus is, each issue will provide something of interest for you, and more than likely, you’ll find something interesting that you didn’t know you would.

The magazine is published in Japanese, but even if you can’t read Japanese, the photography is really fantastic and the old saying “a picture says a 1,000 words” is very true. Each issue includes enough “work in progress” photos for even a layman to be able to follow along. The photos of the builds highlight many of the tools, materials, and techniques used by the master builders for each model built. Although, I’m sure something is lost in translation, the photos go a long way in explaining the builds visually. Honestly, sometimes I find myself spending as much time looking at the many advertisements as much as I do on the work in progress photos.

Package

P-38 Lightning Early Armament
Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
August 24, 2016
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$8.50

Master Model has released three new gun barrel sets for the P-38 Lightning, one of my favorite aircraft. This one is listed as the early version with 4 x .50 cal. Brownings, with drilled cooling jackets & early and late 20mm cannon tips. These are mostly seen on early versions of the plane but the instructions have photos of some later birds sporting the drilled cooling jackets, so check your references.

The detail is beautiful with drilled out jackets and barrel ends. The early 20mm also has some additional detail.

Construction depends on which kit you are using. Many have separate barrels so these are just simple replacements. Other kits (like the Hobby Boss) will need to have the original barrels cut off and holes drilled for the barrels. Either way the detail on these is much better than any of the kit guns.