IPMS/USA Reviews Website

B-17G Flying Fortress "D-Day Doll" Limited Edition

Review Author

Mike Kellner

Published on

January 26, 2016

Company

Hasegawa

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$47.99

The B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the best-known bombers of World War Two. Being able to withstand large amounts of battle damage and still come home endeared the aircraft to its crews.

This release by Hasegawa is an aged kit but still a joy to build. It features a new set of decals, overall good fit, and lightly raised panel lines. The light grey plastic has some sink marks, the worst being the backs of the propeller blades. The kit contains 97 parts and comes in a nice box with a sturdy card stock bottom and a nice glossy top with beautiful box art.

Although this kit was received in good condition, one of the propellers had a blade broken off. While I was able to fix that one, my kitten Amelia decided to chew up another. I had to go to the spares box to find a replacement for that one.

A62M Zero White Metal Landing Gear

Review Author

Rob Booth

Published on

January 25, 2016

Company

Scale Aircraft Conversions

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$10.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced replacement gear for the Airfix 1/72 scale A62M Zero kit. The white metal replacements are an identical fit replacement for the kit plastic parts. The supplied items include two main gear struts and the tail wheel assembly. Some other SAC packages include replacement wheels, as well, but not the case here. You will need to use the Airfix kit wheels for your build.

A side by side evaluation (see photos) indicates an identical replacement that should provide a greater strength assembly with a significantly improved weight capacity and abuse tolerance. However, use some care, as in this scale, even cast metal parts are very fine and fragile. I found it easy to accidently bend them out of shape with my heavy-handedness.

In some cases where original equipment was left in a natural metal finish, painting may not be necessary. As always, check your reference photos.

Highly recommended.

Spitfire Mk 22 Flying Surfaces

Review Author

Rob Booth

Published on

January 25, 2016

Company

Aires Hobby Models

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$10.95

Aires Resin has produced a set of replacement flying control parts for the Airfix 1/72 scale Spitfire Mk 22. The resin horizontal stabilizers are a superbly detailed drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include a firm greenish-grey resin casting block with the horizontal stabilizers attached. A side by side evaluation (see photos) indicates identical replacements that will provide poseable control surfaces for this nice little kit from Airfix. As always, check your reference photos.

You will not need to do surgery to the kit to use these beautifully cast pieces in your build. The resin fixed wing parts can be attached the same as the kit parts. The resin moveable parts can then be posed as desired. Attach them to the plastic with some super glue, and don’t forget to pose the control stick in the cockpit in the appropriate position!

Very highly recommended.

P-38 Early Armament (Drilled Cooling Jackets)

Review Author

Pablo Bauleo

Published on

January 24, 2016

Company

Master Model

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$7.25

Master Model from Poland continues to expand its 1:48 Air Master line. This time with a detail set covering the weapons for the P-38 in an early configuration.

Master Model does not specify for which P-38 version this set is. The set includes .50 cal Browning machine guns with drilled cooling jackets plus early and late 20 mm cannon. Based on a quick review of my references that is correct for mid-production (-E/-F/-G) and even a few late productions (some –J/-L) still had the drilled cooling jackets too. Check your own references to be sure to which P-38 version is detail set is applicable.

Master Model does not specify for which P-38 kit this set is either. I made a side-by-side comparison with the Academy, Hasegawa and Hobbyboss kits. Below are my conclusions:

1972 Oldsmobile Indianapolis 500 Pace Car

Review Author

Doug Cole

Published on

February 3, 2020

Company

Revell, Inc.

Scale

1/25

MSRP

$34.95

The 1972 Oldsmobile that graced the Indianapolis 500 race as the pace car that year was a stunning anomaly. It was the first time a car was provided by someone other than an automotive manufacturer. The auto giants were reluctant to provide one because of the previous year’s accident so Hurst stepped in to fill the void. Miss Hurst (Linda Vaughn) helped kick off the race too.