DXM (Double Excellent Model) Decals is a hobby company based in Taiwan and has been producing models since 2018. DXM produces modern jet aircraft (primarily United States, Japan, and Israel, but there are some other unique air forces – Hellenic, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, etc.) decals in 1/144, 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 scales. In addition, there are weathering/rusted airbrush templates, 3D parts, and conversion sets. The decals are printed by Cartograph. You can see their amazing products on their homepage and even have a YouTube video reference for applying their decals.

DXM’s 1/48 scale USMC F/A-18C/D VMFA-312 & 115 Decals Set has five options from MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, all from VMFA-312 DR 214:

Quickboost recently provided the Reviewer Corps with drop-in resin replacement exhaust pipes for Arma Hobby’s P-39Q/N Airacobra in 1/48 scale. The sample item came in a plastic bag with cardboard backing. There are no instructions for this set. For the Arma Hobby kit and they are direct replacements for part A22.

There are two exhaust pipes (left & right) from the traditional pour moldings for these resin replacements (not 3D generated). The quality is excellent, and the exhaust pipe ends have holes molded in, so no drilling is required.

I’m gonna kick this off with a little background on the concept for this AMT kit. Motörhead was a hard rock band that started out in the 70s and was super popular in my high school years in the 1980s. They were out of the UK and had a number of top 10 singles and albums. Being a car guy, Motörhead just fit my mentality at the time, even though I wasn’t as much into hard rock in that era. Ace of Spades was one of their singles on an album of the same name. It was on their second album and reached pretty high in the charts. Doing a themed Camaro based on this band just seems to be a natural thing to do!

The book examines the early development of German armored forces in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. It traces the evolution from experimental prototypes in the interwar period to the Panzer I (Panzerkampfwagen I / Sd.Kfz. 101), Hitler’s first mass-produced tank.

Although small, lightly armed, and limited in combat performance, the Panzer I played a key role in training Panzer crews and enabling the early Blitzkrieg campaigns. It saw action in the invasions of Poland, Denmark and Norway, the Low Countries, France, and the early stages of the campaign in the Soviet Union. The volume covers design innovations across models and variants, combat history, operational performance, pre-war training, and its contribution to later, more powerful German tanks.

Quickboost has provided the Reviewer Corps with a resin upgrade replacement detail for Tamiya’s F4U-1A or D Corsair Headrest Type B in 1/72nd scale.

In The Package & Product Notes

The sample review came in a plastic bag with cardboard backing. There are instructions for this set and it will show the removal of the headrest pad for parts B15 & B16. This will allow the new headrest to be installed on the forward side of the bulkhead.

Note: this part cannot be used on F4U-1 “Birdcage” variant with the aft scalloped windows.

There are two headrests provided and they are the traditional pour moldings (not 3D generated). The quality is excellent with very fine detail.

Please note, since this is a resin part, Superglue (CA) or other bonding agent will be needed to secure the headrest to the kit plastic.

CONCLUSIONS

Jacek Zabielski’s new monograph arrives as a welcome addition to the literature on early-war light tanks. The LT vz. 35—better known in German service as the Panzerkampfwagen 35(t)—has long occupied an awkward middle ground: important enough to appear in most general accounts of the 1939–41 campaigns, yet rarely given sustained, dedicated treatment in English. This book sets out to correct that imbalance.

Scope and approach

This wonderful decal set covers USMC F-4B Phantoms from the following squadrons:

• VMFA-531 Grey Ghosts
• VMFA-542 Tigers
• VMFA-513 Flying Nightmares
• VMFA-122 Crusaders

I had been eager to build the Crusader’s 3-gunned F-4B that flew from Da Nang with 3 Mark 4 gun pods for several missions, so I was eager to try out these decals. I was not disappointed. Printed by Cartograph, they are very crisp, and include various options for each squadron’s markings, a set of walkway decals, and all the stencils needed. The stencils include some specific for the J model, but they are called out on the instruction sheet so just pay attention.

ICM has done it again with a great combination kit containing three vehicles currently serving Ukraine against the Russian invasion. This boxing Military Vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (DS7205 – Diorama Set) has three complete kits: Ural-43203, BM-21 ‘Grad’ and SPz Marder 1 A3. From the ICM webpage for the Military Vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

The Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operate various military equipment, primarily consisting of Soviet-era models. Most of these vehicles have stood the test of time and remain effective for combat tasks.

Background

Being that other builders have provided explanations about Gunpla and Gundam in their reviews, I will forego that. This particular figure, the Rosan Swordman, is part of the ’30 Minutes Fantasy’ series. The Bandai website offers seven pages of various kits and upgrades for this series.

The Figure

Per the enclosed guide, the Class I soldiers specialize in swordsmanship and fight in the Colosseum. They wield various types of blades including one-handed, and two-handed swords, and they have an excellent balance of offensive and defensive skills. They have precise techniques and calmly make decisions, demonstrating their proficient skills when fighting alone or with allies.

For background information on the main figure, please see the review I wrote titled “Bandai Rosan Swordman”.

This set, like the Swordman kit, is part of the ’30 Minute Fantasy’ series. There are various Class Up Armor sets available for the different figures throughout the series.

The Kit

Included in the box are three trees: one is bright blue and the other two are silver. The silver trees are mostly duplicate parts from the man Swordman kit 5072036.

The assembly process guides you through a series of steps where you essentially take apart the Rosan silhouette figure. This means removing the head, the arms, and the legs.

As with all Bandai kits, careful study of the instructions in advance is very important because, depending on certain poses or accouterment features selected, you will need to vary the assembly.

The date is some time in the late 1920s or early 1930s, the location in the American Midwest during the height of the Great Depression. Farmer John has been alarmed as Jennie, his wife of 12 years, has begun having “spells.” He calls Doc Johnson on the neighborhood phone, so the doc dutifully comes out to John’s farm during his rounds to see what the problem might be. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that Jennie’s condition is beyond his limited scope to handle, so he suggests that he drive her to the county hospital to let other medical folks take a look. John wonders during all this how he’s going to find the money to pay for all this as he holds onto his son Billy with weathered hands.

The Eduard P-51Ds are excellence in plastic. They are beautiful plastic kits, but the landing gear is a little fragile. Enter Kazan Model Dynamics, with their HybridCAST sets. What does HybridCAST mean? There is an aluminum rod surrounded by resin pieces. This gives you added strength along with the superior details offered by resin.

Packaged in a top-opening stiff card stock box with plenty of foam to protect the parts, the instructions are printed on a single side sheet. This set has 20 resin pieces, but what sets these apart is the inclusion of aluminum tubing INSIDE the strength-critical parts such as the landing gear struts and the actuator rods.

The Tamiya 1/48th scale F-14D is a great kit and deserves all its accolades. That being said, with the limitations of molding technology, there is always room for improvement one of those areas is the wheel wells. Theya re good but they myriad of lines and detail is just not possible with plastic injection technology. In comes 3D printing technology and the game changes for aftermarket. Kazan Model Dynamics has released sets in the past adding massive detail and their current catalog includes upgrades to F-16, F-14, P-38, F-4B and other sets. This review covers the landing gear bays and gear doors for the Tamiya F-14B/D. The set includes 17 resin printed 3D parts and a one-page instruction sheet. Printing is good with a few print lines that needed sanded out easily.

DXM Double Excellent Model) Is a hobby company out of Taiwan and has been making decals for a while. They have now branched out into conversions also to augment their decals. This set is a conversion of the Tamiya F-14D kit inot an F-14B kit and includes two options, early or late and these sets can also be bought with decals which contain a couple options each. You can get the conversion by itself or with a specific set of decals and they are listed below:

• DXM-S0002- F-14B Conversion
• DXM-S0002P1- F-14B Conversion with VF-32 Fighting Swordsmen Decals
• DXM-S0002P2- F-14B Conversion with VF-143 Pukin’ Dogs
• DXM-S0002P3- F-14B Conversion with VF-11 Red Rippers
• DXM-S0002P4- F-14B Conversion with VF-101 Grim Reapers

For this review, we will use the VF-143 set. The conversion involves the following:

There are many ways to fold photo etch, using a folder with a safety razor has been the go-to method for me. Not anymore! This tool set is much more ergonomically friendly. I found it much easier to use because it is easy to control, fits in you hand, is easy to manipulate, and keeps the photo etch in place when using it without a jig. \

Available individually ($4.16), or as a set of three for $12.96 at https://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php

Highly Recommended

Many thanks to UMM for providing this product and IPMS/USA for the chance to review it.

Zoukei-Mura has graciously provided the IPMS Reviewer Corps with a first look at their brand new 1/32nd scale Kawasaki Ki-100-I Otsu Type 5 Fighter. Parts 1 and 2 of this review looked at the box contents and initial assembly, respectively.

Part 1 can be viewed here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/kawasaki-ki-100-i-otsu-type-5-fighter-part-1-kit-inspection

Part 2 can be viewed here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/kawasaki-ki-100-i-otsu-type-5-fighter-part-2-assembly

Final Assembly Process

This is a box stock build with no aftermarket add-ons or modifications.

The late Dr Leopold Scholtz was a senior journalist, political commentator and a highly regarded military expert. He was deputy editor of Die Burger until 2007 and was the European correspondent for Media24's Afrikaans dailies. Scholtz obtained his doctor's degree from the University of Leiden and was a research fellow at the University of Stellenbosch. He wrote several books and over 40 academic articles, most of which are about military history. He was a captain in the Reserve Force of the South African Army. His books include "The SADF in the Border War 1966-1989" [2013], "General Christiaan de Wet as Veldheer" [1978] and "Terror and liberation: The ANC/SACP, Communism and Violence (1961–1990)" [2022]. Scholtz died of leukemia in 2022 in Delft, the Netherlands, and is survived by his wife Ingrid, also a historian.

Special Hobby has provided this beautiful 2024 release of the First French Supersonic fighe the SMB2 Super Mystere, in 1/72 scale model.

• Nine grey Sprues
• One Clear Sprue
• Three resin parts
• Two Decal sheets
• One Instruction guide

The detailed quality is excellent in every way with this kit; crisp and detailed molding. The kit can be built in two versions: one the French version and there other the IAI Sa’ar Honduran version. You need to decide which version before you start the building. I when with the version A – French Air Force May 1961.

The Assembly is quick and easy.

The assembly starts with the engine and jet pipes in stage 1 and 2. There are several ejection pin marks that need cleaning up.

The Cockpit is next at stage1 and 2 this was straight forward just watch for part C39 as it is a tight fit.

Detail & Scale’s Color & Markings first series was launched in 1984 with Volume 1 focusing on the Convair’s F-106 Delta Dart. Authored by Bert Kinzey and published by Tab Books [ISBN-13 978-0816845255], the first volume was largely in black and white with 16 pages of color. Thirty-six years later, this new publication, Colors & Markings of the A-7 Corsair II significantly revises and expands the original coverage of the original volumes, Colors & Markings Volume 15 of The A-7E Corsair II: Pacific Coast Squadrons [1990]. Authored and illustrated by Colonel Richard S. “Rock” Roszak and Mike Heideman, Volume of 10 of the new series of Colors & Markings is all in color and double the size: 64 pages vs. 127 pages. This English edition was released on June 26, 2026, and is available in soft square bound format [8.5” x 11.0”] or in digital format.

This is part of a series of books by Kagero on warships and I have a few of these and are truly indispensable when building a model of the subject matter.

This book goings into great detail via illustrations of the Royal navy light Aircraft Carrier HMS Invincible –entering service in 1977. It served in the Falkland war in 1972. After the Falklands war it was to be sold to the Australian Navy but that was cancelled and remained in Royal Navy service until 2005. Before this HMS Invincible also served in the Gulf War in 1991 and 1993

The book is lavishly illustrated and shows every aspect of the ship in great detail. The book also comes with two large scale fold out poster size ship outline drawings in 1/400 scale

The illustrations give so much details as one could wish for as a modeler or history buff.