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.

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.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$16.95

Product provided by: Ross, CEO of SAC

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us another of your expansive line of metal landing gear (with extra bits for the engine mounts, nice!). Thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

Once again, a SAC upgrade to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of 5 parts: Two main struts, one tailwheel leaf-spring strut with tail wheel fork, and two engine mounts.

Roden kits suffer from one problem; the soft plastic used is just not up to the task of holding up a model. In this kit’s case, it is worse because the gear is already spread at an angle like the majority of Cessna products, which means the real thing is a shock absorber (try landing on one with too high a sink rate and be bounced back in the air, experience here).

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$17.98

MiniArt has been moving full steam ahead on providing diorama modelers with the kind of details that simply weren’t available some years ago without resorting to expensive resin short runs. This set of household crockery and glass is an excellent example.

What you get in the box is a tiny clump of REALLY small sprues, which sort of niggled me at first until I actually started working on it. These tiny sprues offer a LOT of final product.

Prepping these items was much easier than their small size would lead you to believe. First off, there’s very little painting required. Even the opaque items are cast in a while plastic that looks remarkably like ceramic.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.00

AoA (Angle of Attack) decals: Been around about a year, and now we know they are focusing on Vietnam War subjects … We sincerely appreciate this new decal manufacturer sending IPMS/USA their latest releases for review! (…and the usual thanks also to IPMS USA Reviewer corps leadership for sending these my way...)

This set is extremely useful in that it includes a bunch of USAF and US Army stencil and non-stencil markings, in both blue and black, in this case sized for the Roden 1/32 O-1/L-19. You have many options for use, and these are well researched and provide (1) different choices for YOUR model, and (2) provide an alternative to the (frequently) not-so-good kit decal performance.

A set of airframe stencils in included for one model, along with national insignia. When done, you’ll have a lot of numbers and USAF/US ARMY notations for use on your 1/32 snakes and Hueys… at least that’s my plan, as the old Revell kit decals are looking a bit worn in the box.

Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$14.95

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Scale Aircraft Conversions

adaption of the Mirage F.1 landing gear in white metal for the 1/72 Special Hobby kit. The set contains two main landing gear legs, a nose gear leg and two additional struts. Overall this is highly recommended for stronger landing gear, ability to adjust the white metal to where you need it, and added detail. This is a great addition to the Special Hobby kit. I would like to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions for another great offering in metal landing gear and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this item.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$22.98

MiniArt seems to have its collective ear to the ground in terms of what they’re bringing to the modeling world, and this kit is no exception. Having dealt with dioramas with interiors, I know the frustration of rooms with little to no furniture. This lovely set is most welcome for that alone.

So what do you get for your money? The box comes with a number of opaque and clear sprues, all with some of the most delicate castings you’re ever likely to see (the phone cradle alone is most impressive), all of which make up into: