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Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.
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Fw190 Landing Gear (AX)
Review Author
Perry Downen
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$11.95

First off I’d like to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions for making this detail set available for review and thank IMPS/USA for allowing me to do the review.

Most of us are familiar with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. But, for the one or two who are wondering what an Fw190 is, the following synopsis is provided. During World War II the Fw 190 was a German single-seat fighter aircraft powered by a single radial engine. It and its sister aircraft, the Bf109, made up the majority of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aircraft. The Fw190 is arguably the best fighter Germany had in its inventory. It was used in a variety of rolls including day fighter, night fighter, fighter-bomber, and ground-attack aircraft. It was very popular with the Luftwaffe pilots. And so it is with today’s modelers. At any show you will see a number of Fw190s on the table vying for recognition. One way to make your model look as crisp and sharp as possible is through the use of after-market parts.

Box art

Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Roden
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$53.00

Our thanks up front to Squadron mail order for providing this kit to IPMS so we can review it! A note about Squadron’s customer service; had one small issue with a part sprue, and we received the parts ASAP. Thanks Squadron for your attention and drive to ensure you maintain your customer base! And thanks to IPMS leadership for sending this one my way

The Turbo-Porter is an interesting aircraft; it is designed for a specialized purpose, operating from unprepared airfields, with short takeoff and landing capabilities. In this kit, markings are provided for French Air Force operations; one overall white with a cheatline, and one in overall dark gray. I used Tamiya IJN Saesebo arsenal gray for my build as it seems close.

Box Art

F-4S Phantom II “Vandy 75” Limited Edition
Review Author
William Carrell
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$60.00

The Hasegawa F-4 Series Phantom II models have been a standard for the modeling community for a number of years. They have offered virtually every variant ever produced and flown in all services around the world. This specific release is Celebrating the dawn of carrier landings. On January 18, 1911, the first successful aircraft landing on a ship occurred when pilot Eugene Ely landed his plane onto the USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4). In 1986, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four (VX-4) celebrated the 75th anniversary of this historic occasion by adding special "Vandy 75" insignia to select F-4S Phantom IIs.

Box Art

Mirage F1 CT/CR
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$70.00

Sincere appreciation goes to Kittyhawk for providing IPMS USA another of their kits for review… although the company is relatively new, the kits so far have been great efforts and I look forward to what is next...

This kit is a re-release of Kittyhawk’s F-1 kit released a couple of years ago. I remember reading of “fit issues” noted by a reviewer (from another site).... I experienced no major fit issues on this build. The kit did require a bit of filler to be used, where the forward fuselage mated with the aft section, and the intakes. That is pretty well a given on most jets, so I consider them non-issues.

Packaging

F4U-1 Corsair Flaps
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$13.50

Since Tamiya now has three 1/72 Corsair releases on the market, Aires has added a highly detailed set of F4U-1 Corsair dropped flaps to their line of aftermarket parts. This set enables modelers to build a 1/72 Corsair with flaps dropped without the need to carefully remove and modify the non-dropped flaps molded into the Tamiya kits’ wings.

Box Art

F-102A (Case XX)
Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
Company
Meng Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$39.95

This TreadHead was recently persuaded to volunteer to review a Sci-Fi project and an Airplane! Not just any airplane mind you, but a 1/72 airplane… way outside my comfort zone! However, in every cloud there is always a silver lining, and that statement could not be truer than with this Meng F-102A.

Package

F6F Hellcat Wheels (type A) & paint masks
Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$7.00

Aires has added the Type A wheels and masks for the F6F Hellcat to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grey resin, is smooth, seamless and bubble free. When I compared the type A tire to the type B tire I found that the type A had a diamond tread look to it, while the type B had smooth sides and a few lines that circled the tire. That’s all I could find about the different types except that they were used as a “that’s what we have at the moment” type of application.

For comparison I pulled out a Heller Hellcat from my stash. There really is no comparison. The Heller tires are molded as separate halves that have to be glued together while the Aires parts are solid with no seam to sand down and the paint masks are a very welcome addition to assist in painting.

Package

Su-27 Flanker (Late) Wheels and Paint Masks
Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$7.00

Aires has added the wheels and masks for the SU-27 Flanker to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grey resin; it’s smooth, seamless and bubble free.

For comparison I pulled out an Italeri Sea Flanker from my stash but found out that the Sea Flanker had 2 wheels up front. I called a friend of mine and he had the right kit so I compared it to the Encore SU-27. The Aires parts seem to be a little more detailed than the Encore wheels and the Aires paint masks are a very welcome addition to assist in painting.

I very highly recommend this product if you want a nice set of tires for your SU-27 model. I’d like to thank Aires Hobby Models and IPMS USA for the chance to do this review.

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Mitsubishi F-1 '6SQ Sea Camouflage'
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$53.00

The usual “Heavy Appreciation” goes out to Hasegawa USA for providing IPMS USA yet another fantastic re-release of one of Hasegawa’s catalog for review.

This kit is a re-release of Hasegawa’s mid-1980’s F-1 models. The molds have endured the test of time, and no flash is present on this kit. Engraved panels, accurate details, tight construction, and a change in pace for F-1 lovers in the form of a new decal sheet. Although I like the standard F-1 Japanese three-color scheme, this was just, well, different!

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