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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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Review Author
Damon Blair
Published on
November 15, 2016
Company
Aerobonus
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$15.00

While this cabinet may be small and easily overlooked, it can bring a sense of realism to a 1/32 display or diorama. As a retired C-130 Crew Chief, I have personally used (and abused!) roll around cabinets such as this.

The kit comes with 9 cast resin parts on three runners. One part, the handle on the top of the box, was broken in my sample. Being fragile, it is easily broken, and I suspect that it was broken in transit. My intent was to repair the handle and install it as intended. However, the hungry carpet monster ate both pieces, so I had to create a new handle from brass rod.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
November 15, 2016
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$17.95

Hot on the heels of the release of the new Kinetic 1/48 F-18C, Scale Aircraft conversions has released a set of replacement gear in white metal. The set comprises 12 parts and includes both the main and nose landing gear.

A couple notes on the SAC parts: The kit nose gear leg has several ejector pin marks and the top of the main strut is two parts. The SAC kit has no ejector pin marks and the main leg is a single solid part. You will need to drill out the main leg to attach the top section but that’s simple. Second, that main gear are complete replacement parts, but the nose gear will have to have several parts added, such as the nose gear light and the landing lights.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
November 14, 2016
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$49.95

Eduard continues to amaze with the release of its Bf-109G series of models. They’ve taken the kit and provided you with some impressive detail right out of the box. However, they also have their photo etch line and the Brassin line of resin. It was a natural to add this detail to their kits. The problem was that as you add more stuff the aftermarket stuff would become cost prohibitive. Eduard has an answer for that. They offer options in the BigSin series that bundles some of their sets into a lower cost offering. Same great aftermarket but at a lower cost.

This BigSin set offers the new Brassin multi-media cockpit set, fabric seatbelts, and a photo etch set. There is no part of the model that is not addressed. Let me look at each set separately.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
November 14, 2016
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

Eduard has four levels of models that they release. The first is normally the Profi-pack with all the plastic, instructions, photo etch, masks, and decals. This is normally followed up by adding Brassin parts that the modeler can choose to add to the kit. The third one is the Weekend Edition which includes the plastic, instructions, and decals. Just a basic kit. The final version, which is normally released just as the Profi-pack is, is the Overtree kits. This is just the plastic parts. It is the least expensive. It does not include instructions, photo etch, masks or decals. The instructions can be downloaded from the Eduard website. So that is taken care of. Now some would think why would they do that? Let’s admit we all have extra decals and may not like what decals come in the kit. Normally when this kit is released there is a small LEPT pre-painted photo etch kit for those that like them.