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.
This truck was designed for use by the Japanese military, using mostly parts for civilian vehicles. Production began in 1936 and continued until the end of the war.
Soft cover, 192 pages of black and white detail drawings and photographs covering both of these aircraft and their varying roles in Naval as well as civil service.
This book starts by covering the aircraft’s beginnings with the predecessor Lockheed (Electra) 10s, (Electra Junior) 12s and (Super Electra) 14s, and segues on to its wartime role as a patrol bomber used not only in England, but in the U.S. Navy as well.
This hard cover 160 page book covers the Grumman “Bridge and Iron Works” first Jet Cat from the inception through its final days as drones or 2 place trainers. Text takes you from the early days with an interesting read accompanied by over 300 illustrations, including color, black and white and line drawings. It contains complete dates on the F9F production numbers including carrier deployments and squadron histories. This historic aircraft was to become the forerunner of the fantastic F-14 Tomcat, the last of a great line of aircraft from the good folks in Bethpage.
If the author's name seems familiar to you, it’s because he has specialized in Naval topics since the 1990’s. In addition to individual books on the A-4, F/A-18, and F-4 Phantom versus Mig engagements in Vietnam, he is a regular writer for International Aircraft Review. I’ve found his work to be enjoyable and this release is no different.
The twenty-seventh issue of Super Model Magazine from the Polish company Kagero appears to be the second issue released in 2010. In conducting my research for this review, the magazine seems to be available only from the publisher, as I found no distributors. I would compare this all-color, glossy-paged magazine with Fine Scale Modeler, as it is a mix of kit reviews, build-ups, and new product releases. The magazine is printed in a size A4-format. (I only know this because of another magazine the I frequently purchase for reference photographs is the same size.) It is 11 3/4inches by 8 1/4 inches and is printed in Polish. English words only show up in the kit description in the articles, as well as the kit manufacturers. Topics for this issue include aircraft, armor, automobiles and figures. The majority of the emphasis is on aircraft.
Sweet's 1/144 scale Zero is molded in light gray plastic and features beautifully-done recessed panel lines typically seen on much larger kits. (See photo #1) Dare I say "exquisite"? That was my overall impression of the finesse and crispness of all the parts. Two complete kits are included in the box, with seven choices of markings given on the Cartograf decals. This kit was a big step (in a smallish sense) for me. I had never built a Sweet kit before, and don't know much about Japanese subjects other than airliners.
