all 2017

Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$39.99

History

The T17 Staghound Mark I armored car was designed in the United States based on British specifications at the beginning of World War II. The British were looking for a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle with a high level of armor, well-armed and highly mobile. Chevrolet started production in late 1942 and a total of 3000 units were produced. British and Polish units started fielding this vehicle in the spring of 1943 in the Italian Campaign. The Staghound was used by many different counties during the post war era up into the late 1970s.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.95

Extreme appreciation from IPMS USA goes to Eduard for their having once again provided a sample copy of a long-awaited product, the Triple Ejector Rack, and the usual wave of thanks to the IPMS USA leadership for ensuring I received it!

This set contains 50 parts for five TER’s; the resin bodies, Sway braces with ejector pins, TER hanging lugs to put them on the aircraft carrying beams, and PE Switch plates to put in the hollow end of the TER itself. To finish, you are also provided with a small decal sheet.

Detail on this set is, as usual, almost incomprehensible. Every rivet, joint, screw and bolt is on the set.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$29.95

Thank you to the Eduard Company for sending this detail set for review, it is always a pleasure to see what Eduard’s new products bring to the scale modeling world. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us modeling products to review, the reviews posted, and the news spread to the world.

The photoetch frets arrived in excellent shape in a sealed plastic package with the distinctive Eduard knight logo. One cockpit fret is 2.75 x 1.6 inches on polished metal with color-etched laminated details, and the other fret is 3.1 x 2.75 inches on polished brass. Side consoles and instrument panel parts are provided for either a F2H-2 or F2H-2P. Internal and external details for one model are on these two frets. I particularly appreciate having three clear HUD pieces included on the film part. Only one is required, but I need two of them to complete the set. You can speculate why! I worked up the fighter version for this review.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$49.99

You’ve got to give Dragon Models some real credit – they’re willing to put out the oddball kit now and then, and to do it with class. The U.S.-made T54-E1 tank (not to be confused with the Russian T54) was one of the several attempts in the mid-50’s to upgrade the M48 from its 90mm gun to something with a bit more punch. Three different approaches to this idea were initially attempted, including this one, which clearly owes its ancestry to the famous French AMX-13 tank developed around the same time. The idea, of course, was that an autoloading main gun would eliminate the need for a human loader, and would permit extremely rapid firing during combat. There were a couple of problems with this idea, however. First, once the nine-round “magazine” was expended, someone typically had to exit the vehicle to reload it – not something you necessarily want to do under fire.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$34.95

Thank you to the Eduard Company for sending this detail set for review, it is always a pleasure to see what your new products bring to the scale modeling world. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us modeling products to review, the reviews posted, and the news spread to the world.

Overall Summary

The polished brass photo-etch fret arrived in a standard cellophane envelope with the colorful Eduard label and cardboard backing. A color assembly guide was neatly folded inside, with bilingual labels. The fret is about 5.65 x 4 inches, hosting 8 major pieces and numerous hinges, pins, and ribs, with the larger parts crisply relief-etched. Kit areas to be modified are indicated in the instructions.

Book Author(s)
Robert Pęczkowski
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$24.50

Robert Pęczkowski is part of the Wydawnictwo Stratus publishing group as a co-owner, publisher, and author. Robert attended Politechnika Rzeszowska from 1983 to 1988. Robert has written a number of books including the major work in English on the Polish air Force of WW2. He is married with two children.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.95

Sincere appreciation from IPMS USA goes to Eduard for their having once again provided a sample copy of a long-awaited product, the Multiple Ejector Rack, and the usual wave of thanks to the IPMS USA leadership for ensuring I received it!

First off: when someone develops a B-52F/D for a Vietnam diorama, I’ll be ordering an extra two of these sets… because the external weapon pylons on some B-52’s used four of these!

The MER was developed along with TER’s to increase the number of weapons carried by A-4, F-4, A-6 and others… it uses many common parts with the TER to increase carry from three to six weapons.

This set contains 75 parts for three MER’s; the resin bodies and beams in two parts, Sway braces with ejector pins, Two types (early and late) MER hanging lugs and braces to put them on the aircraft carrying beams, and PE Switch plates to put in the hollow end of the MER itself. To finish, you are also provided with a small decal sheet.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
David Doyle Books
MSRP
$19.95

David Doyle’s latest book continues to expand on Squadron Signal’s long standing In Action series that initiated back in 1971.This is a completely updated and expanded edition over Squadron’s earlier Aircraft In Action number 25, a 50-pager on the Lightning by Gene B. Stafford that was published in 1976. That first release was followed by Squadron’s In Action number 109, a 58-pager on the Lightning by Larry Davis that was published in 1990. A third release came in 2011 from David Doyle with 72 pages as Squadron In Action number 1222. This 2017 release adds an additional eight pages and includes many new photographs.

Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$55.99

Yet another rebox of a familiar kit from Hasegawa. This time we're treated to two P-38s with limited edition "European Theater” decals representing the early H model "Texas Ranger" flown by Lt. Col Jack Jenkins and a J model "Jenne" flown by Capt. Roy Scrutchfield. The later regalia is very familiar to those of us who built the Monogram kit from years ago.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Schiffer Publishing
MSRP
$19.99

David Doyle’s latest book is one of the initial entries into a new series called ‘Legends of Warfare’ with entries in Ground, Naval, and Aviation. The first Ground book is focused on the Panzerkampfwagen IV, the first Naval book is on the USS Yorktown (CV-5), and the first two Aviation books are on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (#4) and Douglas TBD Devastator (#3). The first and second in the series (Wayne Mutza’s Bell 47/H-13 Sioux Helicopter is #1 and David Doyle’s Grumman F4F Wildcat at #2) are scheduled to release later this year.