Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/16
MSRP
$189.99

Our usual “THANK YOU!” goes out to our friends at Hasegawa USA, which provided IPMS USA with yet another of the prolific output from Hasegawa. We sincerely appreciate and value your continuing support!

First off, this is a very unusual kit. Back in the 1980’s, Hasegawa released a Wright flier, a Fokker DR-1, and a Sopwith camel in 1/8th scale. These were wood and plastic kits, requiring a lot of building skill and time, and resulted in a large, functional model. They currently sell for over $1000 U.S. on our local internet sales sites. This new Hasegawa Sopwith Camel, however, is not that kit.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.95

First, the usual “THANK YOU!” to Ross at SAC for providing IPMS USA this review set. Said it before and will again, it’s companies like SAC supporting us that keep the hobby interesting and viable. And thanks to the leadership at IPMS USA from me for allowing an old guy, once again, to babble on about a great product, which was graciously provided for my use… Steve, Dick, Paul, and the rest, you are doing a great job.

SAC metal gear – what can you say? Perfection is a good starting point. This set is intended to be a total, drop-in replacement for the kit plastic. You get all three main gear, nose and wing mounted, and associated actuating cylinders. The detail is as good as the real thing, and the strength of the new gear is truly appreciated.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost’s replacement pitot for Kitty Hawk’s Jaguar A come packaged in a thin plastic sleeve, protected by additional reinforcement ribs. You get three pitot tubes which should last you for a few kits unless you lose one of these little gems.

Compared to the Kitty Hawk kit parts, the Quickboost replacement has a slight improvement on detail, and there is not a seam or ejector pin marks that exists anywhere on the Kitty Hawk part. The most noticeable difference is the base of the tube where it flares into the radome. The Kitty Hawk part is oddly shaped, where the Quickboost part is more symmetrical and slightly longer.

Quickboost is known for exquisite detail on all of their update sets and this review sample is no exception. I would like to thank both Quickboost and IPMS/USA for this review sample.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.50

This update set is typical Aires, coming in a sturdy plastic package with foam backing and instructions tucked between the cardboard back and plastic. First impression – how crisp the detail is on the electronics bay as well as the access doors. Mold release is non-existent; however, I still recommend washing the resin before use.

Compared to the Kitty Hawk kit parts, the Aires bay is much deeper than the kit bay, which is very shallow. The kit part features are very crude while the Aires set has far more detail and is very sharp. The kit’s access doors exteriors do not look much different from Aires’ except for the air inlet scoop. The inside of the doors is where the update really shines. There is no detail in the Kitty Hawk parts, while the Aires doors have very fine detail showing structural ribs and insulation blanket detail.

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Ampersand Publishing
MSRP
$9.95

Military Miniatures in Review is an armor-based magazine that has been around for many years. While this is not the first issue that I have been exposed to, it has been a while since I had picked up a copy.

One of the first things that I noticed about this magazine is its construction. It has very thick front and back covers with the pages being bound together with glue. All of the photographs are in color and very sharp and clear. One note of interest is they way that the articles are written. They are written as if the person writing them is talking to you, a somewhat different approach from many of the magazines that I read.

Review Author
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$115.00

One of the latest releases from the photo etch masters at Eduard is a BIG ED set meant for use with the Kinetic release of the Grumman A-6E TRAM Intruder. The set consists of seven different Eduard offerings that include the following:

Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
AZ Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$18.98

History

The Boeing Model 248, which became the P-26 series, was designed in 1931 and first flew in 1932, and was one of the first monoplane fighters adopted by the U.S. Army Air Corps to replace such classic biplane fighters as the Curtiss Hawk and Boeing P-12. Retaining some of the features of previous fighters (including an open cockpit, external wire bracing, fixed landing gear, and fixed pitch propeller), the P-26 set the standard for fighters at the time of its introduction. More than anything else, it helped to establish the monoplane as the standard of excellence in design, and most designers throughout the world were at least somewhat influenced by this fighter.

Book Author(s)
Ron Mackay
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$18.95

Squadron Signal Walk Around publications have a long history of high quality and accuracy in detail. This new addition to that line of books is no exception. This particular product focuses on the land-based Spitfires equipped with the Rolls Royce Merlin engine, including the Mark I, Vb, and IXc variants. Displayed in extensive detail are the external and internal workings of the aircraft that played a key role in Britain's defense.

This publication is a scale modeler’s delight. Included in the 80 pages within the book are scale drawings, b&w images from WWII, and many color images of museum aircraft. It is the latter than intrigued me as a modeler. As an example, please refer to the image labeled Sample picture 1 and check out the caption. I often articulate the rudder on the Spitfires that I build and I now know that the deflection angle should not exceed a specified number of degrees. That’s good to know!

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Zoukei-Mura
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$191.00

Again, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the next stage of construction: the fuselage.

Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Master-X
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$56.95

Upon opening the box, one is greeted with a simple resin kit of an aircraft so obscure that even though I pride myself on my knowledge of WWII aircraft and have built over 100 resin kits of many obscure aircraft, I even had to look this one up!

The Irbitis I-16 was an indigenous fighter design from Latvia. The aircraft was small, approximately 24 feet in length with a wingspan of 26 feet 11 inches and a height of 8 feet 2 ¼ inches. Maximum speed was estimated at 298mph. It was to be armed with two Browning machine guns in the fuselage and two in the wings. The aircraft was test flown in Latvia during the spring of 1940. Shortly thereafter, in the summer of 1940 the Soviets occupied Latvia and further development was stopped until early 1941. Then, in the summer of 1941, the Nazis invaded and took over Latvia. Under the Germans, development continued and when the aircraft was completed it was claimed by the Luftwaffe and from there it disappears into the mists of time.