Douglas A2D-1 Skyshark

Published: May 8, 2024
Company: Clear Prop

I am constantly impressed with companies in the Ukraine who still produce under the extreme situation of kinetic war. Clear Prop is not the first model I have purchased from them, and the kits have been, without question, some of the finest available on the planet. The Skyshark is one of those… I consider it an honor to review this kit, and express extreme gratitude to them for providing IPMS USA with this new release.

The Skyshark, as a prototype aircraft, eventually succumbed to fiscal and technical pressures, (there’s that old “jet aircraft” thing with it’s fuel guzzling at the time) and has always been a fascinating subject to me. The counter rotating board-shaped propellers, centerline thrust twin engines, and the promise of carrying even more than it’s extremely successful… more

F-35A Landing Gear for Tamiya

Published: April 7, 2024
Company: Detail & Wonder

Detail and Wonder is a new aftermarket company; they currently list The F-35 (Tamiya), F-4 (Meng), and recently the F-16 heavyweight (for later F-16C variants, Tamiya and by default, Kinetic) as target improvements for their products, producing landing gear with integral Wheels/tires/struts, Exhaust Nozzles, and some intake/exhaust FOD (Foreign Object Damage) prevention plugs. The subject of this review is the F-35A landing gear set; IPMS USA appreciates D&W providing us this set for review!

The packaging is frugal but effective; no parts breakage was noted on my set, and opening them revealed three strut assemblies encased in protective foam inserts to prevent movement and crushing.Included in the box are two main gear struts, two main gear brake and oleo assemblies, a nose… more

F-35A Afterburner Nozzle and Intake/Exhaust Plugs

Published: March 27, 2024
Company: Detail & Wonder

Detail and Wonder (D&W) is a new aftermarket company; They currently list The F-35, F-4, and recently the F-16 as target kit improvements for their products, (Tamiya F-35A, Meng F-4E, and Tamiya F-16, which means it will work on the Kinetic copy) producing landing gear with integral Wheels/tires/struts, Exhaust Nozzles, and some intake/exhaust FOD (Foreign Object Damage) prevention plugs. The subject of this review is the F-35 Augmentor Exhaust and intake/exhaust plugs… IPMS USA is grateful to D&W for providing us this set to review!

The packaging is frugal but effective; no parts breakage noted on my set, and opening them revealed one exhaust nozzle and three separate intake/exhaust plug parts encased in protective foam inserts to prevent movement and crushing.

The… more

AH-1G Cobra 'Over Vietnam with M-35 Gun System' (HI-TECH)

Published: February 4, 2024
Company: Special Hobby

It has been an honor to review Special Hobby’s new AH-1G kit, and hereby express extreme thanks to them for providing IPMS USA with this new release. We continue to be fortunate with their ongoing support of the reviewer corps!

Special Hobby continues to provide subjects avoided by others… as a business model, this ensures they continue to exist and thrive on the concept of “do what others can’t or won’t”.

(Note: the Air Force Reserve unit here in Oklahoma has always had “SH” as their Fighter unit tail marking, meaning what everyone should know it does. In the case of this review as a transplant Okie I shall use SH as an abbreviation for Special Hobby, intending it to mean “S-Hot” in their case for untouchable ability and a quality product)

SH’s Huey… more

H-21 Upgrade for Italeri Kit

Published: December 3, 2023
Company: Brengun

THANKS to Brengun for providing more of their expansive line for us IPMS reviewers to address. For the Detail hounds, AMS, whatever among us, Brengun continues to provide really cool items for us to use. And this set holds great promise to upgrade the venerable 1/72 Italeri kit.

Notice I said 1/72. When I was digging through the “Review stash” to see where I could help, I saw this and thought “great, I can finally build the small version (Having the 1/48 model sitting in the box, I made a big assumption.

1/48 and 1/72 do not mathematically convert into equals. “why is this set of screens for the transmission and engine cooling intake too small when held up to the 1/48 model?”

Stupid reviewer. Brengun, I sincerely apologize, you don’t get one of my fantastic, non… more

F-18G Growler

Published: November 21, 2023
Company: Platz

I opted to try this kit knowing full well it was Italeri plastic with Cartograph decals and Platz boxing - with their instructions.

The box has a great image of a real F-18G on the front When you open the box you find gray plastic with clear for the canopy and taxi lights. Cartograph decals (yay!) and a very well-laid-out instruction manual from Platz. (yay!) The Italeri plastic was the negative.

I purposefully did not read any reviews on the model from either company before beginning. This will be a simple review.

First: the model was disappointing in that fit was either excellent (fuselage nose) or “sketchy” (intakes, wing root, ECM pods and the wing tip pods). I decided to save my expensive (what isn’t anymore) filler and jut build the model as if I were a… more

F-14A VF-111 "Sundowners" Decals

Published: November 8, 2023
Company: HAD Models

Thanks to HAD (based in Budapest, Hungary) for sending IPMS/USA this decal sheet. This was the first time I have used their products and I was impressed. When I went to their website, I noticed the Digital Camo products as well. The web site lists many different decal sets for other aircraft and is worth visiting.

The decals I volunteered to work are for the popular “Good Golly Miss Molly” VF-111 CAG F-14A (Late). The set contains a basic sheet with the specialized markings, as well as a correction sheet - for a rescue arrow and white blocks (no lettering) for the Ejection warning triangles.

The basic sheet worked very well. The decals were resilient to handling, thin, and settled on to gloss paint with no silvering. Color registration was excellent. The MODEX and other… more

Nine Lives of the Flying Tiger (Asia at War series #43)

Published: September 30, 2023
Book Author(s): Albert Grandolini &Marc Koelich
Company: Helion & Company

Here is the overview from Casemate’s website:

The famed American Volunteer Group (AVG) created in August 1941, under the command of Claire Lee Chennault set an example of heroism for the American public opinion at the onset of the Second World War. This band of volunteer aviators serving under the Chinese Government tried to stem the tide of the Japanese onslaught throughout Southeast Asia. Amid chaos and resounding defeats of the Western powers in the area, the AVG fought tenaciously against the Japanese. Highly publicized in the US as the Flying Tigers, the AVG set up the origin and legacy of further United States clandestine air wars in Asia, and elsewhere in the world in the coming decades. From that point on, the name of Claire Lee Chennault was associated… more

Cross and Cockade, “the Journal of the Great War Aviation Society, Spring 2023 Vol. 54/1 Magazine

Published: July 15, 2023
Book Author(s): Editorial Staff
Company: Cross & Cockade International

First, I must express sincere appreciation to the editors of Cross and Cockade; IPMS USA sincerely appreciate your provision of a great read.

I decided since I am closet WWI interest-type individual, (when Stationed in Germany I visited Verdun at least 10 times…) I might as well do some reading on “The Great War”.

The society itself has developed a large following (based on people who know more than I) and is considered “the go-to place” to research details on WWI aviation. They are set up with memberships, not storefront operations. Their website also has a plethora of books and resources for research.

From their website:

“Welcome to the web site of The Great War Aviation Society!

The purpose of the society (previously known as Cross & Cockade… more

A-24 Banshee

Published: July 9, 2023
Company: Brengun

UP FRONT thanks to Brengun for sending us this Gem… This kit is a re-release of Brengun’s earlier Dauntless. The A-24 was used by the Army Air Force in several theaters of operation, and pretty well seems to have been as successful in operation there as in Blue water conflict. (Midway anyone?).

Total time in work: 3 hours over a week including paint and decals. NO filler.

The kit has only the box and decals as a difference from previous release. The end-opening box arrived in the usual condition of such items (flattened) but this did not impact the plastic or the remaining contents.

I was a bit more careful on this build than the last iteration. Not using the Micro photoetch aftermarket helped. (Yes, it provides that little extra “detail” but is a bit too much… more