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Cover Art

America’s Round-Engine Airliners: Airframes & Powerplants in the Golden Age of Aviation
Book Author(s)
Craig Kodera & William Pearce
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Specialty Press
MSRP
$46.95

History

This book is an account of the development of the American airliner powered by reciprocating engines, up to their replacement by jet powered aircraft in the 1960’s. The authors are well qualified to trace the advances in both airframes and powerplants. Craig Kodera has a completely aeronautical background, having experience as both an airline and Air Force pilot, and as an excellent aviation artist. William Pearce’s background is in aviation powerplants, and between them, they are able to trace the technical developments and the developmental histories of each major aircraft and powerplant.

Product

Vietnamese Spads (2) VNAF AD-6/A-1H Skyraiders in the Vietnam War
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$16.00

AoA (Angle of Attack) decals are in their fourth year by my records, and continue to release some of their earlier Vietnam War subjects in different scale from the earlier releases … We sincerely appreciate AoA sending IPMS/USA their latest releases for review! (…and the usual thanks also to IPMS USA Reviewer corps leadership John and Phil for sending these my way...)

This sheet provides 11 different paint schemes, and covers the range of Vietnamese A-1 schemes from the early 1960’s to the early 1970’s.

Airframe stencils in included for each model, along with national insignia. This sheet focuses on the main markings for the aircraft, particularly since several of these SPADS were repainted with camo and as such did not receive replacement stencil markings.

Notable options include several early 1960’s A-1’s with colorful tail bands; I believe these markings would sell the sheet more than anything, as they certainly have some different markings.

Box Top

Mirage III C
Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$59.95

The Dassault Mirage needs little introduction. It is a fighter aircraft that became iconic during the 6 Day War and other conflicts. Twelve nations flew the Mirage, including France, Israel, Australia and South Africa. Compared to other jet and propeller fighters, the Mirage is quite small and compact, but packs a mean punch!

Box Top

Shiden-Kai N1K2-J "George" Late Type
Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Platz
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$17.44

The Shiden Kai was developed, in 1944, to counter US bomber aircraft that were attacking the mainland of Japan. With the combination of a refined airframe and a 2,000-horsepower engine the Shiden Kai was a masterpiece of a fighter with balanced performance. While it might be said that it was too little too late, production of the Shiden Kai was limited due to it being introduced in late1945.

This updated boxing of Platz's 1/144th scale airplane kit includes new decals, packaging, and illustrations, while retaining the nicely molded detail and easy-of-assembly of the original.

This updated release features:

Package

WWII U. S. Navy Wheel Chocks in 1/48
Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Hauler
Brengun
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.79

Many thanks to the Hauler Brengun Company and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to review this unique diorama accessory! Hauler Brengun is a prolific contributor to the IPMS Reviewer system and I am very pleased to report on my experience with these excellent accessories, USN wheel chocks in 2 scales.

These chocks are great addition to any USN aircraft of the WW2 era. The chocks are virtually identical, other than scale. They are cleanly cast in gray resin that is not too brittle or soft. The chocks are excellent replicas of the style used during World War 2. They are very easily detached from the pour plugs and assembled. A little cleanup with a square file is required and the chocks are adjustable!

Package

WWII U. S. Navy Wheel Chocks in 1/32
Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Hauler
Brengun
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$9.72

Many thanks to the Hauler Brengun Company and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to review this unique diorama accessory! Hauler Brengun is a prolific contributor to the IPMS Reviewer system and I am very pleased to report on my experience with these excellent accessories, USN wheel chocks in 2 scales.

These chocks are great addition to any USN aircraft of the WW2 era. The chocks are virtually identical, other than scale. They are cleanly cast in gray resin that is not too brittle or soft. The chocks are excellent replicas of the style used during World War 2. They are very easily detached from the pour plugs and assembled. A little cleanup with a square file is required and the chocks are adjustable!

Package

Pitot Probe for Mirage III/V
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$2.79

IPMS/USA again thanks Piotr for supporting the IPMS USA reviewer corps with one more of many monthly releases, with an extremely useful and well-thought out 1/144 Pitot tube probe for any of the 1/144 kits of the Mirage III.

1 part (ONE) is included, along with a detailed instruction sheet on what size hole to drill and where to insert the probe. I find these probes more useful than pins to address the issues of scale size, appearance, and flexibility without incurring personal injury. Steel pins are more durable, but tend to not “flex” or give, and the effect of driving a staple into one’s eye or hand or whatever is not so traumatic if the brass probe deflects off to one side. Even Nurses wince with needles….

The base kit I used was a relatively new release from Mark 1 Models in the Czech Republic…they have an excellent range of kits, and the Mirage was no exception. Assembly was swift and it was ready for painting and pitot installation...

Box Art

RF-5E Tigereye
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$70.00

There’s something about this relatively small, compact and sleek fighter that can grip the imagination. I’ve been enamored with it, that when Hasegawa released their 1/32nd scale version many moons ago, I made no less than five over a single week, just to show it in some of its endless liveries.

With the release of this version of this famous aircraft, Kittyhawk has not only provided us with a variant never before available in this scale but upped the game considerably over the venerable Hasegawa kit in terms of detail.

Product Packaging

Tempest Mk. V cockpit
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$44.95

Eduard has released a great Brassin Cockpit set for its new tooled Tempest Mk.V which in its self is a great kit. This Brassin set is full of Resin parts, a Photoetch sheet, and Decals.

In the box is:

  • Approx. 55 resin parts
  • 1 film sheet
  • 1 small decal sheet
  • 1 photoetch detail set
  • 1 instruction booklet

Construction

First is the assembly of the side frames of the cockpit and the detail controls. I did find the removal of the side frames from the pour stub to be a bit hard and the frames are very thin and fragile. Apart from that, no issues were encountered during the stages on page 2 of the instructions.