The International Plastic Modellers' Society (often shortened to IPMS) is an international organisation of

hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

ists interested in building

plastic model :''In art and architecture, plastic model may also be any three-dimensional physical model, regardless of material.'' :''In mechanical engineering, a plastic model is a mathematical model of a material which incorporates plasticity.'' 300px, A 4-y ...

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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

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 Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

who also represent the

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a sh ...

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 Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

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 tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

, a time period like the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, a manufacturer such as

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...

or a genre like

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

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

List of current UK SIGs on IPMS UK website

IPMS (USA) SIGs

List of current SIGs

National branches

See also ;Similar societies: *

Armor Modeling and Preservation Society The Armor Modeling and Preservation Society (AMPS) is a social club with the common interest of modeling miniature armored fighting vehicles, military model figures, ordnance, dioramas, and related equipment and promotion of historic military veh ...

(AMPS) ;Models and model building: *

list of model aircraft manufacturers The following companies manufacture, or have manufactured, model aircraft. Flying Ready-to-fly A ready-to-fly model has the airframe assembled but may or may not have an engine or other equipment fitted. Almost Ready-to-fly * Guillow Kits ...

. *

Kitbashing Kitbashing or model bashing is a practice whereby a new scale model is created by taking pieces out of kits. These pieces may be added to a custom project or to another kit. For professional modelmakers, kitbashing is popular to create concept ...

, creating a model by combining different kits. *

Model military vehicle Model military vehicles range in size and complexity; from simplified small-scale models for wargaming, to large, super-detailed renditions of specific real-life vehicles. Scales The 'scale' is the proportion of actual size the replica or model ...

s *

Ship model Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people. Ship modeling is a craft as old as shipbuilding itself, stretching back to ancien ...

s, some of which are plastic kits. * Gundam Models, plastic models of Japanese science fiction. ;Manufacturers: *

Tamiya Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of plastic model kits, radio-controlled cars, battery and solar powered educational models, sailboat models, acrylic and enamel model paints, and various modeling tools and supplies. The company was founded by Yosh ...

Academy Plastic Model Co. Academy Plastic Model Co., Ltd. (Hangul:아카데미과학주식회사) is a Korean plastic model, chemical, and toy company. It is headquartered in Uijeongbu-Si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea and was established on September 1, 1969.Revell Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was ...

* Aoshima Bunka Kyozai Co. * Dragon Models Limited DML. * Hasegawa * Kyosho *

* Reamsa

External links

IPMS Farnborough club siteIPMS Middleton Cheney club siteIPMS Vancouver club site
{{scale model Scale modeling Hobbyist organizations 1963 establishments in the United Kingdom