International Plastic Modellers' Society

The International Plastic Modellers' Society (often shortened to IPMS) is an international organisation of hobbyists interested in building plastic model kits. The Society is made up of national branches, and within these, local clubs who usually represent a town, city or locality. The first branch was established in the United Kingdom in 1963.

Local clubs organise regular meetings, typically once a month for members to meet up, show off their latest models, discuss the hobby and work on ongoing projects. Many also organise their own annual shows and invite fellow clubs to display alongside traders, and together, these shows make up a busy calendar of events throughout each year. The UK has the most developed club network, with organisations covering virtually the whole country. Elsewhere, local clubs can often function as national branches simultaneously, such as IPMS Argentina who also represent the Mar del Plata region of the country.

At a higher level, national branches will also organise their own shows. These are typically termed 'Nationals'. The largest of these is IPMS UK's Scale ModelWorld, held at Telford in November each year and features not just local British club displays, but also contributions from overseas branches and clubs, such is its scale.

In addition to the branch and club structure, Special Interest Groups (SIG) exist which focus on a specific area or type of model building, for instance a particular aircraft such as the Tornado, a time period like the Cold War, a manufacturer such as Airfix or a genre like science fiction and fantasy. SIGs often transcend club and branch boundaries, being made up of modellers from around the world sharing a common interest. As a result, most SIGs do not meet up on a regular basis like clubs, but instead communicate more frequently online.

UK SIGs

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List of current UK SIGs on IPMS UK website

IPMS (USA) SIGs

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List of current SIGs

National branches

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Name Year founded Website
  IPMS Argentina 1985 IPMS Argentina
  IPMS Auckland (New Zealand) IPMS Auckland (New Zealand)
  IPMS Australia 1964 IPMS Australia
  IPMS Austria 1970 IPMS Austria
  IPMS Belgium 1968 IPMS Belgium
  IPMS Brazil (GPPSD) 1978 IPMS Brazil (GPPSD)
  IPMS Brunei
  IPMS Bulgaria 2011
  IPMS Canada 1964 IPMS Canada
  IPMS Chile 1987 IPMS Chile
  IPMS China IPMS China
  IPMS Colombia IPMS Colombia
  IPMS Costa Rica
  IPMS Croatia 2016
  IPMS Cuba
  IPMS Cyprus 1996 IPMS Cyprus
  IPMS Czech Republic IPMS Czech Republic
  IPMS Denmark 1965 IPMS Denmark
  IPMS Dominicanan Republic 2021 IPMS Rep. Dominicana
  IPMS Ecuador (GMEC) 2013 IPMS Ecuador (GMEC)
  IPMS Egypt IPMS Egypt
  IPMS El Salvador
  IPMS Finland 1968 IPMS Finland
  IPMS France 1975 Fédération Française de Maquettisme Statique
  IPMS Germany 1966 IPMS Germany
  IPMS Greece 1981 IPMS Greece
  IPMS Guatemala IPMS Guatemala
  IPMS Honduras IPMS Honduras
IPMS Hungary 2017
  IPMS Indonesia 2001
  IPMS Ireland 2007 IPMS Ireland
  IPMS Israel 1987 IPMS Israel
  IPMS Italy 1968 IPMS Italy
  IPMS Lebanon 2017 IPMS Lebanon
  IPMS Korea 2011 IPMS Korea
  IPMS Latvia 2014 IPMS Latvia
  IPMS Luxembourg 1980 IPMS Luxembourg
  IPMS Malaysia
  IPMS Malta 1981 IPMS Malta
  IPMS Mexico 1977 IPMS Mexico
  IPMS Netherlands 1971 IPMS Netherlands
  IPMS Norway IPMS Norway
  IPMS Pakistan 2017 IPMS Pakistan
  IPMS Panama IPMS Panama
  IPMS Peru
  IPMS Philippines 1968 IPMS Philippines
  IPMS Poland 2011 IPMS Poland
  IPMS Portugal IPMS Portugal
  IPMS Puerto Rico (Borinqueneers) IPMS Puerto Rico
  IPMS Qatar 2012 IPMS Qatar
  IPMS Romania (AMA) 2010 IPMS Romania (AMA)
  IPMS Russia
  IPMS Serbia 2011 IPMS Serbia
  IPMS Slovenia IPMS Slovenia
  IPMS South Africa IPMS South Africa
  IPMS Spain IPMS Spain
  IPMS Canary Islands IPMS Canary Islands
  IPMS Sweden 1967
  IPMS Switzerland 1973 IPMS Switzerland
  IPMS Turkey IPMS Turkey
  IPMS Ukraine 2018 IPMS Boryspil (UA)
  IPMS UK 1963 IPMS UK
  IPMS USA 1964 IPMS USA
  IPMS Uruguay 1987 IPMS URUGUAY
  IPMS Venezuela 2011 IPMS Venezuela


See also

Similar societies
Models and model building
Manufacturers

References

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