IPMS/USA Reviews Website

MB Ejection Seat Handles

Review Author

Pablo Bauleo

Published on

April 5, 2016

Company

Eduard

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$16.95

Eduard Models continue to expand its line of aftermarket details sets. This time is a pre-painted photoetch fret for Martin Baker Ejection seats. In particular you get ejection handles for

Martin-Baker Mk.5
Martin-Baker Mk.7
Martin-Baker Mk.GRU 7
Martin-Baker Mk.10
Martin-Baker Mk.12
Martin-Baker Mk. 16 US 16E
Martin-Baker Mk.16A

In my opinion this is an excellent idea. There are plenty of sets for seatbelts but very limited on the area of handles. The fact that they are prepainted makes it even more useful as those small yellow & black stripes are challenging the paint, to say the least.

Application of the parts is trivial. Remove, fold and glue in position. It took me longer to assemble and paint the plastic ejection seat than to actually apply the detail parts.

U.S. Half-tracks Part 2

Review Author

Phillip Cavender

Published on

April 4, 2016

Company

The Ampersand Publishing Group

MSRP

$49.95

The Ampersand Group, Inc. and David Doyle in conjunction with Hobbylink Japan have published another book on U.S. Army Half-tracks in the Military Modeling Series. Part 2 is a continuation of their previous book, Part 1, with Part 2 covering half-tracked multiple gun motor carriages and gun motor carriages.

What you get is an 8-1/2" x 11" glossy hardbound book covering 448 pages with high resolution black and white glossy, detailed historical photos covering the different variants of the half-track based vehicle. The book is divided into 8 chapters with Addendums, Appendix and a Bibliography:

Allied-Axis 33

Review Author

Ben Guenther

Published on

April 4, 2016

Company

Ampersand Publishing

MSRP

$15.95

This is the publication's thirty-third issue and as the subtitle says, it is “the photo journal of the Second World War”. This issue deals with five subjects in 96 pages, the paper being glossy and reproducing the images well in black & white. The only color photos are on the covers (front and back). Two of the subjects are outright allies and one German. The final two started out as allies (French) but after 1940 their tanks were used by the Germans. At the beginning of each chapter there will be a short text on the history of that subject and most of the photos will also have a brief text about that photo. The photo sizes varies, but about 65% of them cover the full page and the remainder have anywhere from two to four pictures per page.

Dornier Do 17z vs. Boulton Paul Defiant Mk 1

Review Author

Chris Smith

Published on

April 1, 2016

Company

Airfix

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$29.99

History

On 26^th of August 1940 during the Battle of Britain, the two aircraft represented in this kit met over the English coast, during which the Do-17z would fall victim to the guns of the Defiant, and the Defiant itself would fall victim to escorting Me 109s moments later. Two of the four German crew were lost in the encounter. The Defiant’s crew survived a crash landing. Fast forward to 2013 when an underwater survey revealed this very Do-17 in shallow sand off the English coast. In an extraordinary effort the RAF museum sponsored an expedition to raise the wreckage from its watery grave. (Click here for the Recovery article). It will eventually be placed in the RAF museums “Battle of Britain” hall to complete a collection of aircraft that took part in that battle. You can follow this continuing effort on the RAF museums website.

Avia B.534 III.serie

Review Author

Keith Gervasi

Published on

April 1, 2016

Company

Eduard

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$24.95

History

The Avia B.534 was developed in 1934 and although obsolete by the time WWII started it was used in combat as late as 1944! The 534 went through a few changes along the way most notably the cockpit and landing gear. A 534 is credited with having been the last biplane to record an aerial victory (A Hungarian Ju 52 on Sept. 2nd, 1944).

The Kit

Upon opening the box you will find a bag of 3 blue grey injected plastic sprue with a zip lock bag of clear parts inside, a zip lock bag of photo etch parts, a zip lock bag containing masks, a decal sheet and 12 page color instruction booklet. The injected plastic is molded very crisply and with no noticeable sink marks very little flash. The photo etch parts are small to say the least but look nice and the decal sheet is printed cleanly and in register.