IPMS

Wow!! I guess i got my moneys worth out of that question didn't i. Thanks to all that answered and all that will. I kinda' had a feeling about this that more or less fell into what most all responded.I agree that you can't get anymore help anywhere than you can from the pages of FSM and all of the modelers in this forum.
Side note to Blackwolf; surely you must have an opinion of somesort. Kidding!
TEise

No IPMS here for me....Wont go into the reasons as to why I dont like it....lets just say some of them have already been covered here.....the rest well I shall digress....

I have noticed that the atmopshere & direction in an IPMS club is very dependant on the founders/leaders of the Club.
My experiences are similar to 72cuda both good and bad.

In the long run I decided to head of into my own directions and said farewell to the IPMS.

Well here's my 2 Cents worth, I've had both good & bad experiance with IPMS the one in Las Vegas is worthless I fell they (back in the 80's) had no clue on how a real F-16 (and most military equipment) looked like and docked me for trying to show how one looked like from my experiances with the plane, but then a 180 in attitude with the group from Lincoln they where real supportive and gave their open attitude on all subjects from Aircraft to Space Fantasy but the only lacking thing from the whole club world wide is that the newsletters where way behind the FSM mags on info

Joined IPMS (UK) around 18 months ago.

First few magazines full of character assasinations of the 'then' Comittee.

Magazine including info telling me how to apply to ask questions at the AGM arrived a month after closing deadline for submission of questions for the AGM!

After 12 months was asked to renew my subscription. I filled out a Direct Debit form and sent it off. I received a new Membership card a few weeks later. 6 months on and my bank has no record of the Direct Debit ever being actioned.

Admittedly, it's a society run by enthusiasts in their spare time, but it's hardly surprising they're getting a poor reputation.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth,

Rob M.

I agree with Blackwolf. I first joined IPMS back around '87 or something like that. Did it for a year or two and that was about it. All I got out of it were the mags. Maybe it was just how things were back then but it was sort of a turn off to receive a magazine with a color cover and all black and white pictures on the inside. Does anyone know if they're still in B&W? Didn't really help me out much there. I find the FineScale magazines to be about a hundred thousand times more useful than the IPMS publications. As far as dues-paying clubs are concerned, I tend to run away from such things. I hate the term "serious model builder" and that's whom they seem to cater. The moment modeling becomes "serious" is the day I put away my paints and tools. I agree with the reference to the elitests mentioned above. Having worked in a hobby shop I've seen way too many people who were like that. And if they can join a club where such titles as "President" or "Secretary" or "Treasurer" can be pinned on them then that's where they'll conglomerate.

Remember in "A League of Their Own" with Tom Hanks when he said "There's no crying in baseball!"? It's like that with models only it would be "There's no organizing clubs in hobbies!" It's not supposed to be a structured thing with minutes taken at meetings. It's just something that we started for fun back when we were seven years old, remember?

Eric

I'd join if I felt that it would get more people into the hobby. I feel like it's becoming too specialized to be accessible to new people.

Used to be IPMS Belgium member. At the time the only reason is that I was librarian of the local model club and the magazine became part of the collection (the club paid my IPMS fee). Being able to attend to the IPMS Nationals contest was a bonus at a time, but I've sort of grown up now. The mag itself was of little use to me since I VERY rarely do Belgian stuff, but I know it used to be fairly highly regarded abroad, as there's little else on Belgian subjects...

There are some great IPMS mags, though, in other countries, but joining in is pointless as I can get access to those mags through the 'reference' service of the IPMS Belgium (a service I initiated) where copies of the worlds' IPMS mags are kept...

Well said Blackwolf
it sounds like the IPMS in both our countrys are the same

Good for you, Blackwolf. Now I don't feel so alone in that matter.

This has been discussed several times in different parts of the forum and there seems to be a good number of folks who are either indifferent to IPMS or who bash it outright. These are only my thoughts on IPMS...

The only benefits of national membership in IPMS for an individual are:

1) You get the IPMS Journal. (yay )
2) You are able to enter a model at the national convention.
3) Bragging rights.

Well, for me, the Journal is useless. Not that it's a horrible rag, it just holds no appeal for me. I used to like the Updates and Qarterlies a whole lot more than the Journal. Although the early Journals were well done, they weren't free of the sometimes childish ranting so prevelant amongst the self-appointed elite of the hobby.

The other information in the rag, kit reviews and such, is usually somewhat out of date by the time you receive it. The how-to's rarely captivate me and the goings-on of other clubs really don't command my attention. So the Journal of today, to me, is a waste of paper and whatever part of the dues that goes towards the rag would be a waste of my money. Others, no doubt, feel differently. Everyone has their own tastes.

As to entering in the NATS, I've made it to only a few of 'em over the course of 20+ years, so it's not worth it for me to spend the remaining part of yearly dues to enter a contest which I probably won't attend.

Whether or not I feel I can compete at a national level is moot. I build for myself, not for judges and my philosophy in modeling has transcended that of the status quo of the 'scale' modeling purists who seem to be in the majority on the NATS judging crew.

I build for my own reasons and I go to contests to display my models, not to compete. If I win an award, great! If not, so what? If I wanted to put a model on the table at a NATS it would be so that someone could look at it. Period. And I would gladly pay the additional amount of the membership fee in order to do so. The resulting yearlong membership won't change my life at all but the IPMS Journals I would get as a result would be utilized in a most practical way; next time I camp on the infield at the Glen I'll have some kindling for the campfire...

Bragging rights? I'll be honest, it's cool to feel that you belong to something that you feel to be special. Our club has won IPMS National Chapter of the Year an unprecedented four times, and it's cool to be able to say that I was a part of it. But it's not the fact that my club won the COY award that matters to me, it's the fact that we all did something together and had fun doing it.

Besides the personal benefits (if you choose to view them as such) mentioned above, another benefit, on the club level, is the fact that a charter in the national organization provides your club with insurance for any club event including shows and meetings. So, in that light, IPMS is a very good thing.

My IPMS world exists mainly on a local level. Although I recognize the importance of it's existence, I could really care less about the national organization; it holds no interest for me. I joined a local club which just happened to be affiliated with IPMS. Whether or not it continues to be an IPMS affiliated club is of no consequence to me; if IPMS went south tomorrow, I'd still have a great buncha guys to hang out with and to shoot the breeze with about plastic and other stuff.

It's true that there are a number of self-appointed elitist 'experts' in the hobby, and many of them are IPMS guys. Many are not. Whoever they are, I just ignore 'em. If you wanna join an IPMS club but are put off by a few AH types, join anyway and simply ignore them. There's bound to be at least one or two fellas in that club that you can get along with. And if not, or if the club is all AH types, try to find another club. Or start your own. You don't have to be an IPMS club to be a modeling club.

I've made this hobby my own and I know it inside out. (those parts which I choose to know, that is) IPMS was an influence, but only one of many. I would still be the modeler/enthusiast I am today had I not stuck with the local IPMS club. But it's hard to say what I would be like now if I had never joined the club to begin with.

Just remember, in the end, YOUR modeling experience is what YOU make it.


Fade to Black...

Not really a member. I find that the forum and friendly shop keepers provide me with all iinfo I may need.

For me it has just become another magazine subscription and to keep the local club with enough IPMS memebers to keep the Charter. Not into the competion anymore. Would rather see a "swap and diplay meet" of some sort. Curious about the FSM Forum get together next November. Sould be an interesting alternative.