Reviews of scale model kits.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$96.00

On August 3, 1914, Germany declared war on France, intending to use an early form of blitzkreig to force a surrender within roughly 40 days. Moving their forces through then-neutral Belgium, the Schlieffen Plan was to sweep down from the north and quickly take Paris, enveloping the French forces as well.

Things, as they say, did not go as planned. Germany’s violation of Belgian neutrality quickly brought Britain into the war. The combined French and British forces, after retreating some 160 miles, regrouped in the Marne River Valley, some 25 miles from the outskirts of Paris. By then, the Germans were stretched thin, exhausted after the month-long campaign with severe shortages caused by outrunning their own supply lines.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$127.00

The Ford Model T, nicknamed the Tin Lizzie, was produced from 1908 to 1927. Over 15,000,000 vehicles were produced in many configurations, including a sedan, roadster, light delivery vehicle, pick-ups, fire trucks, etc. The Tin Lizzie's were known for their affordability, reliability, and durability.

Ukrainian-based ICM has produced several variations of the model T, including a 1913 speedster, a 1913 roadster, a 1917 ambulance, a 1914 firetruck, a 1912 light delivery car, a 1911 touring car, a 1912 commercial roadster, a 1917 LCP WW1 Australian army car and a 1917 utility Australian armor army car, a 1917 model T, a 1917 LCP with Vickers MG, and a RNAS armored car. Many of these kits were subsequently issued with passengers or crew.

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$75.00

The Revell Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Cabriolet is a beautiful model kit issued in 2024 by Revell Germany.

Contained in the box is a bag containing a small sample of Revell model glue and the following Revell colors: 02, 04, 99, 302, 331 and 378. Also sealed in bags are one clear sprue, white sprues B, MD, Q, F, and P, along with silver sprues A and J. The parts are mostly free from flash. There is one set of very nicely molded rubber tiresand a full-mold upper body (N).

I am not a car model builder, so this project was a personal challenge. I learned and grew through this build and had some great conversation with car builder friends. The build begins with the engine. The assembly process was very straightforward and easy. I had no issues. There are several steps of applying decals (to belts), and this was a little tricky only because of the very small surface. The finished engine looks really nice and is an impressive feature of the model!

Review Author
Bob LaBouy
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$93.00

This kit was a ‘Limited Edition’ kit, released at the 2025 IPMS/USA National Convention in Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was quickly sold out on both Eduard ‘s online store and at the 2025 Convention. The instruction booklet contains 23 pages, including some color guides for the weapons, masks and overall aircraft decal markings.

I was initially impressed with several aspects of this Eduard repackaging of the Kinetic F/A-18C, including the surface details (including recessed panel engraving), the placement of panels along the surfaces, the wing fold details, the beautiful box art, and especially the kit decals. As I began to dry fit the various subsections, the novelty wore off. From what I expected to be a beautiful kit, I quickly realized I had purchased a total rehash of the original Kinetic kit, along with what I consider to be numerous major fit and finish issues.

Review Author
Paul Dunham
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1:35
MSRP
$122.00

ICM’s “Vehicles of the D.A.K.” kit includes three 1/35th scale German truck kits:

  • S.E.Pkw. Kfz.70 with Zwillingssockel 36 (anti-aircraft truck)
  • Le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz.2) (radio car)
  • Typ L3000S (cargo truck)

All three kits have been issued previously in various boxings. The Kfz.70 was first released in 2015 and a version including the AA guns was released in 2023. The Kfz.2 was first issued in 2018, a version with the radio parts was released in 2019. The cargo truck was first issued in 2017.

Review Author
Bradley Moreland
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$100.00

I have previously reviewed a few other ICM kits, and I would say that this one was perhaps the hardest kit I have attempted from them. Let me first say that this kit has the extremely high quality and detail that I have come to expect from ICM. The reason I say this was the hardest for me would have to be the scale of the kit. This is a very nice and well detailed ship in 1:700 scale, which is quite common for ship models. This is the first 1:700 scale ship I have built. The scale itself is not bad at all. The part I have extreme difficulty with is the small details ICM produced for this scale. This was far more detailed than I expected for this scale (more detail than a 1:350 ship I had built previously), and some of those details were just too small for me to manipulate and fit as they are supposed to. Therefore, my completed example had some “strategic omissions” as I gave up on trying to put some items in place.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$59.99

Squadron, in partnership with MiniArt, released this boxing as a Limited Edition at the IPMS/USA Nationals in Hampton, VA. Utilizing the newly released P-47D-11 Razorback kit with new decals, Squadron has created a rather unique model. Having just built a Tamiya P-47D Razorback I was looking forward to building this kit to see how it stacked up. Packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with a colorful box art with two unique 405 Fighter Group aircraft, one in NMF and the other in OD and Neutral Grey. Let’s see what is in the box because that is what really matters.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$32.00

Atlantis Models has provided the IPMS/USA reviewer corps with Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen’s “AA” Fuel Dragster (front engine mount) in 1/24th scale. Per Scalemates.com, original mold for this kit is from 1971 by Monogram/Mattel. This review is for the 2024 boxing.

In the Box

The kit is enclosed in a top open box with a painted illustration. The main color is blue with white accent in the middle of the body. There is one white sprue of parts, right and left side body halves, one chrome plated sprue, and one vinyl sprue with tires. Decals are on a single sheet.

Instructions are well illustrated and have ten assembly steps along with a decal placement guide in Step 6.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Agora Models
Scale
1/2
MSRP
$1,500.00

Agora Models is out of England, and they specialize in large-scale, highly detailed and illuminated/automated models of all genres. This goes from figures such as Alien and Optimus Prime to ships like the Constitution and Bismarck to vehicles such as Aston Martin DB 5 and Lotus Esprit to military vehicles such as a Leopard tank and aircraft like the Japanese Zero. All are large scale from 1/2 for some figures to 1/200 for the ships. The kits are made of everything from die cast zinc to wood to plastic. Due to their size and complexity, they are expensive, but Agora has softened that by selling them as very reasonable monthly subscriptions. And when you are done, you have a showstopper.

Review Author
Tom Dunford
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/8
MSRP
$24.99

In the Box and Molding Quality

Atlantis Models has re-released the classic Aurora 1:8 scale Blue Knight of Milan figure kit, which originally appeared in 1958. As the current owner of the Aurora trademark, Atlantis included the original box art and period instructions. The kit comprises approximately 35 parts molded in a metallic blue styrene, spread across several sprues, along with the traditional small red feather plume. The molding quality is generally good. Minor flash was present, primarily along the parting lines, but was easily removed during part preparation. Ejector pin marks were either absent or located in areas that would be hidden after assembly.