Travis Air Force Based USAF’S Transport Superbase in action

Published: May 11, 2023
Book Author(s): Scott Cuong Tran & Nick Tran
Company: Key Publishing Ltd

First, thanks very much to Casemate Publishing for providing IPMS USA a copy of this well formatted and image-rich minigraph. We appreciate the opportunity to review this book!

Travis AFB almost 30 years ago, (’93-‘]96) was one of my frequent TDY locations while overseeing the KC-10 fleet as the KC-10 Maintenance Chief for Air Mobility Command. Lots of great memories in working that… more

Soviet Pilot with Ejection Seat for Mig 19 Farmer

Published: May 11, 2023
Company: Aires Hobby Models

First the usual “thank you very much” to Aires for providing us another of their excellent resin items for review. We at IPMS USA truly appreciate your support…

This is a simple set for Trumpeters’ Mig-19 “Farmer”, in that the kit seat does not provide a figure for those of us who actually use them for scale and human factor in a kit. Consisting of five molded resin items (torso with… more

P-51D Clear Vacuum Canopy (Platz/Eduard Kit)

Published: April 12, 2023
Company: Brengun

So, we have a 1/144 Mustang out there from Platz/Eduard, and an interior detail set from Eduard as well, available on in their own release. The canopy on the basic kit is closed, and within the limits of thickness which can be successfully injected. It fits and looks nice (and the Eduard kit has a masking set to go with it.

Insane? Yep. But an open cockpit requires an open canopy.… more

Phoenix Aviation Modelling International

Published: April 12, 2023
Book Author(s): David Francis (Editor)
Andy Evans (managing Editor)
Company: Phoenix Scale Publications

With retirement, I have of course had to seriously curtail spending, and as such, just personally had opportunity to read and learn of this magazine by obtaining it from our reviewer corps. I had read a few kerfluffles online about jealous rivals, and this was an opportunity to find out exactly what this new Mag was about. For Simplicity, I am using PAMI as an abbreviated form of the magazine… more

Douglas A-4K Kahu Skyhawk Conversion

Published: December 15, 2022
Company: Barracuda Studios

Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 A-4 “kahu” Upgrade for your Trumpeter A-4 to turn it into a New Zealand bird.

Anyone who has been around the modeling community for a while should be familiar with Roy and his company. Well researched and flawlessly executed resin, decals, and other items for (Is it 20 years?)… This set is… more

A-4 Skyhawk Intake and Exhaust Set

Published: December 15, 2022
Company: Barracuda Studios

Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 Exhaust and intake set for your Trumpeter A-4.

Consisting of four printed resin items, this one is truly necessary for tightening up a neglected area of many models.

The exhaust turbine section has the four support blades and centerline flow bullet molded as one piece. Easy to… more

A-4 Skyhawk 300 Gallon Droptanks

Published: December 15, 2022
Company: Barracuda Studios

From Barracudacast’s website:

“The Aero 1D 300 gallon tanks were widely used, and were carried in this configuration by all variants of the Skyhawk as well as the F4D Skyray. This set consists of a pair of highly accurate and detailed 3D printed droptanks, complete with separate shackles for mounting to pylons. Drop tanks are printed hollow, so they will not weigh down an… more

P-51H Mustang Landing Gear (Mvit)

Published: December 13, 2022
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

This is the SAC gear is made with the brand-new Modelsvit P-51H. This was the last in the Mustang line, and essentially was a totally different aircraft; in outward appearance the lineage was there, but new wings, fuselage, cowling, combined with sub-parts of the previous P-51D tooling, led to a faster aircraft, with a bit more performance. Unfortunately for it, the Jet age had arrived, and as… more

XA2D-1 Skyshark Landing Gear & Wing Folds for Clear Prop

Published: December 10, 2022
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

SAC is an interesting company; started around the year 2010 or so, they continue to provide model landing gear and other stress-handling parts in a world that some would say at the time “has no place for them here”. I differ in this view, one of their first sets was for the Italieri S-3 Viking, and I learned they had released a 1/32 set to replace the Revell JU-88 plastic set that was… more

Tiny Tim Rocket Set for Late WWII Aircraft

Published: September 8, 2022
Company: Brengun

Brengun/Hauler provides the modeling community with items considered perfect for limited run production. In this case, who would have thought the much-vaunted but not really that effective unguided rocket weapon, affectionately called “Tiny Tim”, would end up as an available add-on?

A logical development of 5” unguided rockets employed by Navy and Marine aircraft in the later portion… more