IPMSUpdates

The MICV-65 (Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle) was a project conducted by the United States Army seeking an armored personnel carrier vehicle to replace the M113, built by the FMC Corporation (Ford Machinery & Chemical Corporation). FMC was awarded to design and build the MICV and designated XM734. The XM734 utilized the M113 as basic platform, armed with a turret manned by a single crew firing a 20mm cannon. The newly designed vehicle was re-designated the AIFV (Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle), but the United States showed no interest in the vehicle; however, the Dutch government showed interest and placed orders in 1975. Further modifications were made and the vehicle was redesignated YPR-765 (Pantser Rups Infanterie 765). View the full review

This is another book in this series, each concerning itself with one particular type or class of ship. This one is about British Anti-/Aircraft Cruisers and includes ships specifically built for this mission or converted to it. As usual for this series, it is not so much a history of the ships, although brief accounts of their careers are included, as it is a description of the various specific modifications made to them that made them anti-aircraft ships. Included are the “C” class cruisers that were converted for this work, merchant vessels that were requisitioned and converted and the more-or-less purpose build Dido Class ships. View the full review

The iconic Mitsubishi A6M Zero was the Imperial Japanese Navy’s primary carrier-based fighter plane from 1940-1945. Over 10,000 of these ubiquitous fighters were produced, with the A6M5 Type 0 Model 52 being the last and most effective model. Scale Aircraft Conversion has produced its famous white metal landing gear for the A6M5/5a Zero in 1/48 scale. As aircraft modelers well know, aircraft models displayed on their landing gear are susceptible to damage from the weight of the model, especially on styrene landing gear. Scale Aircraft Conversion has had the solution since 1990. Their white metal landing gear is designed to bear the weight of the model and complement the detailed non-load bearing plastic parts. Their extensive range covers white metal landing gear from 1/144 to 1/18 scale aircraft. View the full review

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) has provided the IPMS reviewer corps with a set of 1/48th scale metal landing gear for Trumpeter’s HU-16A Albatross. These parts are drop-in replacements and provide a more robust landing gear set given its metal properties. In the PackageThe metal pieces are packaged in a clear blister package with cardboard backing. No instructions are provided. Review ProcessThe metal landing gear set is used as drop-in replacements for the kit parts as noted View the full review

April 19th, 2026 Eboard & Staff Quarterly Meeting Present: John Noack (JN), Dave Morrissette (DM), David Lockhart (DL), Eugenie Taylor Ray (ETR), Chris Bucholtz (CB), Phil Perry (PP), Joe Terry (JT), David Knights (DK), Scott Hackney (SH), Nancy Kennedy-Hackney (NKH), Nate Pollock (NP), Eric Aitala (EA) Absent: Mike Oberholtzer, Steven Broughall Call to Order The meeting was called to order on April 19th, 2026 at 7:00pm EST by John Noack. Special Presentation by Will Kuhrt on Juniors/Youth Clubs Will Kuhrt discussed the success and challenges of the Juniors Club he has started in his area. The club has grown from 3 to 16 members over the last year and has shown the potential for these clubs. He will be conducting a seminar at the 2026 Convention on what they have done and how other chapters can also start Juniors Clubs. Discussion was held on what else IPMS/USA could do to assist in this effort, and many good ideas were brought forward. Staff Updates and Reports NP – Nothing new to report at this time. JN asked NP to get with MO on reviewing membership statistics for a project he would like to do. EA – Website continues to run well, will need to update the forums at some point. Continuing to make progress on the new website. Email issues seem to be resolved for the moment. NKH – Current membership status is 5218 members. Continues to field questions related to the Convention as well as normal member issues such as logging into WA. Worked on resolving the email issues that were causing emails to go to spam. Continuing to train new assistant on Office Manager duties. Will have 25 & 50 year pins completed by end of May hopefully. As Event Manager has been continuing to attend zoom meetings with convention team and preparing events for them. Has been training the registration team. Eboard Roundtable/Action Item Updates PP – Judges have made a “what judges look for” presentation, would like to have it available at Nationals for people to view. DM – Has contacted reviewers with late reviews to get those turned in. Continuing to get a variety of new things in for review. SH – Has zoom meetings scheduled to discuss certain parts of the convention with those involved. Mark Stevens has rebuilt the model registration system and it looks really good. Will be holding a “How to do a National Convention Talk” at Fort Wayne this year. Still need more trophy sponsors and to sell more ads for the convention journal. JT – Responding to emails that come in from the general inquiries form on the website. Has been meeting with the Tiger Meet Coordinator to help coordinate with SIGs. Looking into a possible SIG Leader get-together at Nationals. Encouraged SIG Leaders to participate and support the 2026 Convention through trophy packages and convention journal ads. Worked with EA to establish a SIG Leaders forum section, it is currently up and running with SIG leaders added to it. COI/COE forms have been completed by all Eboard members and returned. DK – Just returned from the AMPS National Convention. Has been in talks with a company about inserting IPMS/USA fliers into their boxes. DL – 22 Regional awards completed, needs assistance with the national awards. Members of the Eboard volunteered to help with certain categories. Award submissions continue to be limited, with very few being submitted. Two new chapters have been formed: Tuesday Night Model Club, Cottage Grove, OR and Memphis Belle Chapter in Memphis, TN. Two new potential chapters are also in the works. Certificate of Insurance has been going out, has created a poster for them. Planning a social for the RC’s and Eboard at the National Convention and a breakfast with just the RC’s. ETR – Some behind the scenes changes by Meta for Facebook that they have been having to deal with. Facebook posts seem to be getting less views, interaction with posts will help with this. This is also affecting the Nationals page, more posts and interaction needed there to keep the information in front of the members. Has been putting together the photography team for the convention. CB – Journal is on track and on time. Staff continues to do a great job and are looking at some new ideas for each issue that will be discussed. Continuing to work with staff on style guides to improve consistency across the journal. JN – Nothing to report, expressed his appreciation for all the hard work everyone has been putting in. Nothing Further the meeting was adjourned at 8:27pm EST. The next meeting is scheduled for May 17th, 2026 at 7:00pm EST via Zoom. View the full article

2026 SCMA Model ContestView the full article

As this is a relatively new and unknown combat vehicle, Wikipedia provided some background: “The K808/806 White Tiger (Korean: 백호 "Baekho", Hanja: 白虎) wheeled armored personnel carrier (APC) is family of 8×8 and 6×6 armored vehicles. Developed by Hyundai Rotem as a private venture in 2012, the Korean Army declared a plan to acquire 600 6×6 and 8×8 wheeled APCs in order to help build rapid response forces modeled after U.S. Stryker combat brigades. View the full review

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) has provided the IPMS reviewer corps with a set of 1/48th scale metal landing gear for UMa’s AV-8B Harrier II Plus. These parts are drop-in replacements and provide a more robust landing gear set given its metal properties. In The Package The metal pieces are packaged in a clear blister package with cardboard backing. No instructions are provided. Review: The metal landing gear set is used as drop-in replacements for the kit parts as noted: Nose Gear: C1, D20, D21, and D26 Rear Gear: D9 and D17 Wingtip Outrigger Gear: D15, D16, D18, and D19 The metal used is malleable and has some give to allow for any minor bending if needed. Also, seam lines will need to be cleaned up prior to painting just like the plastic kit parts. View the full review

I saw these modeling stands mentioned in one of the chapter newsletters Mark Young compiles and sends to all members (sorry, can’t recall which one). I decided to purchase the sets mentioned above at https://www.wardogmodeling.com/. War Dog also makes a Model Ship Stand and a Model Car Stand. My stands arrived unassembled in a plain white cardboard box, so I don’t have any box art to show you. The box contains the parts in separate plastic bags, a copy of the order information, and that’s it. No instructions, but they aren’t really needed. Assembly is straightforward. View the full review

1942 was a pivotal year in WWII in North Africa. The year started with the British on the back foot and the Germans on the offensive, but ended with the positions being reversed as Montgomery’s Alamein Offensive in October ground it’s way towards final victory on the continent. The back-and-forth war between the British on one side and the Germans and Italians on the other in 1940-1 had been exhausting for both sides. But boosted by fresh supplies and materials, Rommel launched an offensive in January 1942, which saw the Axis forces on the Libya–Egypt border. For the next few months, Rommel’s forces were in the ascendancy, and he was at the height of his military power. His military masterpiece at the battle of Gazala in late May and early June resulted in a major victory for the Axis, and led to the conquest of Rommel’s long-held objective—Tobruk. View the full review

StuG IV Assault Gun German Army and Waffen-SS Units, Eastern Front, 1944-1945 Details the StuG from its inception in December 1943 to the end of WWII on the Eastern Front. Officially, the Sturmgeschütz IV (StuG IV, Sd.Kfz. 167) was a German assault gun variant of the Panzer IV based on the identical in role and concept to the highly successful StuG III assault gun variant of the Panzer III. In the last two years of the war, both StuG models were given a tank destroyer role in German formations and tactical planning, greatly augmenting the capability of the dwindling tank force available to the German military. After all, what could be better than a StuG III? A plus one to StuG IV! From the talented author, Dennis Oliver, View the full review

Helion is a prolific publisher of military history based in the United Kingdom. This two-volume set provides an overview of the formations, equipment, and actions of German light divisions from 1938 through the end of the Polish campaign. As with all Helion offerings, they are paperback but professionally produced. Each volume is full of beautifully reproduced black and white photographs, campaign maps, drawings of tables of equipment and organization, as well as several color profiles of German vehicles in this time. The first volume covers the formation, armament, and pre-war deployment. The second volume is devoted to the Polish campaign with additional information on camouflage, markings, and the continued evolution and ultimate dissolution of the light divisions. View the full review

Helion is a prolific publisher of military history based in the United Kingdom. This two-volume set provides an overview of the formations, equipment, and actions of German light divisions from 1938 through the end of the Polish campaign. As with all Helion offerings, they are paperback but professionally produced. Each volume is full of beautifully reproduced black and white photographs, campaign maps, drawings of tables of equipment and organization, as well as several color profiles of German vehicles in this time. The first volume covers the formation, armament, and pre-war deployment. The second volume is devoted to the Polish campaign with additional information on camouflage, markings, and the continued evolution and ultimate dissolution of the light divisions. View the full review

War Dog Modeling is a new company that produces work stand for all types of models, including aircraft, ships, cars, and armor (the subject of this review). What’s in the BoxThe stand arrives in a corrugated cardboard box containing the major parts and a small bag with the metal hex-bolts and plastic wing nuts, all protected by brown paper packaging. The wing nuts and main components are 3-D printed in a sturdy resin, the stand base is 6.25 inches long and the grippers will open to 4.625 inches wide. The InstructionsDon’t look for any instructions, but do not panic as it only takes a quick visit to the War Dog Models website to see how the stand is supposed to look. Construction is beyond intuitive and takes no time at all. View the full review

AOA Decals has a good reputation for quality decals, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review one of their newest releases, the US Modern Letters & Numbers Decals (35-014). The decals come in two sheets of the same page, so there are plenty of numbers, codes and colors available for 1/35 modern subjects. As it is a generic set, there are no instructions provided. From the AOA website, “This sheet offers number and letter variations as seen on US "modern" vehicles - both in black and green for most styles. A full alphabet is provided for one of the most common US stenciled styles, including multiple "M" variations. Other styles are primarily numbers for USMC/USN vehicles (M-ATV, JLTV, MTVR, M1 Abrams, LAV-25, etc.). Also includes USMC vehicle plate decals.” View the full review

Box Art / Packaging: The Avenger is presented in a rigid top opening box with glossy finish, the box art depicts the Avenger air defense system deployed in the field. This 100% newly tooled kit is a brand new 2026 release from AFV Club. The box contains a normal instruction booklet with clear construction steps, instructions were easy to follow and no glaring omissions were noticed. Also included is a glossy poster of the box art for those who like to save these, no need to save the box lid! The manual also includes paint schemes for 6 different variants. Vehicle Background: View the full review

AOA Decals has a good reputation for quality decals, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review one of their newest releases, the US Modern Letters & Numbers Decals (35-014). The decals come in two sheets of the same page, so there are plenty of numbers, codes and colors available for 1/35 modern subjects. As it is a generic set, there are no instructions provided. From the AOA website This sheet offers number and letter variations as seen on US "modern" vehicles - both in black and green for most styles. A full alphabet is provided for one of the most common US stenciled styles, including multiple "M" variations. Other styles are primarily numbers for USMC/USN vehicles (M-ATV, JLTV, MTVR, M1 Abrams, LAV-25, etc.). Also includes USMC vehicle plate decals. View the full review

From AOA Decal Manufacturer’s Notes14 options for JLTVs in US service: 2x Army Reserve (Fort McCoy)12x USMC - Additional decals are also included without the tape/exercise markings that cover some various unit markings. Decals for an M1102 trailer are also included for one JLTV option.Includes full JLTV stencil data set (enough for two vehicles) with variations.For Rye Field Model (RFM) 1/35 JLTV.Background and Historical NotesAs one of the military’s most important decisions, it put out a bid announcement for a replacement for its basic utility vehicle, what was to be called the ‘Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.’ View the full review

What is in the Box4 gray injection molded plastic sprues [247 parts total]1 clear sprue1 decal sheet with 6 markings options1 3d printed instrument panel (three parts)2 Etched Brass frets1 canopy & wheel hub masks1 elastic vinyl tubing1 brass wire1 instruction book in FULL colorConstructionThe construction begins with the cockpit and the fuselage interior and this makes up the majority of the early construction sequence. Extra time spent here will pay dividends later in the build and I recommend a thorough reading of the instructions since they will alleviate most if not all construction problems. The sprue gates are on the mating surfaces, so it is imperative to cut them from the sprues with care and be sure not to over sand the sprue gate nubs. View the full review

Show Shout Out and Bench UpdateView the full article

WW2 Vehicles – Through the Lens Volume 7 by Tom Cockle is a forthcoming photographic reference book focused on Second World War era military vehicles, part of the WW2 Vehicles – Through the Lens series. It’s designed primarily for military history enthusiasts, scale modelers, and researchers who want authentic period photography and detail on armored vehicles and related transport. The volume is a photo-centric reference book with minimal narrative — it emphasizes large, high-quality black & white images accompanied by concise captions that identify vehicles, locations, and sometimes field conditions. Each section groups photos around a specific vehicle type or theme. Featured subjects include: View the full review