I'm the chapter contact for the Gateway/IPMS club, that will be holding our annual Gateway to the West model contest on 19 Sept 2026. The facility that we are using is requesting the Nationals COI for the event, which I should have received on the second week of August. I have emailed the DLC to look into this, but I have received no response. thanks for your help, Marion

UMM-USA is dedicated to fine-scale modeling, encompassing model kits, accessories, and specialized tools. Owned by John Vojtech, a fine-scale modeling veteran. UMM-USA is an online store, importing and exports kits, modeling tools, and supplies, and seeks and offers solutions to technical issues. In addition, his services currently include design and production of master parts, casting of original masters, photo-etched masks, decals, and building made-to-order models for customers. You can see a sampling of John Vojtech's finished projects in the Our Gallery section of his website.

From Italeri Website

The Opel Blitz medium truck formed the backbone of the logistics and transport system of the German Army during the Second World War. Produced in significant numbers, it was characterized by its flexibility and robustness in service, enhanced by the rear axle combined with twin wheels, which ensured greater payload capacity under all operating conditions. Designed to be easy to manufacture, repair, and maintain, it was effectively employed by the Wehrmacht on all major operational fronts, from North Africa to Russia, demonstrating the soundness of its design. It was produced in numerous configurations and versions, including the effective 4x4 variant capable of ensuring good performance even on difficult terrain.

Tamiya’s new 1/35th scale Fukuiraptor kit depicts a Cretaceous-era dinosaur that was found near Fukui Japan. It seems that this kit is intended to be an easy model for young or inexperienced builders. There are only a dozen parts, and at a price of $9.25 can be had for pocket money. With this kit, Tamiya introduces what they call “Clic Loc” design. The parts of this kit press-fit together so that no glue is required.

Included in the kit box are two trees of plastic parts and a small brochure. One tree of parts contains all the parts for the dinosaur. The second tree has the base and a silhouette of two people to serve as a scale reference. The brochure is printed in Japanese, English, German, and French. One side of the brochure has information about the history and ecology of Fukuiraptor, the other side has instructions for constructing the model.

Greetings, all. I was in attendance at the general meeting on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. One of the topics raised by the President, John Noack, is the lack of participation in members voting. Not reaching a specific number for a quorum makes it difficult to get changes passed and moving the organization forward. One idea of his was to lower the threshold of required votes to "pass" a ballot measure. I think this is not the best way to achieve the goal. Lowering the number required places the organization at peril to a small, but motivated group, to hijack the aims and purpose of IPMS/USA. One way to get a higher level of participation is to allow the President of each chartered club to gather the proxy of each of their members. This would keep the opportunity for less than noble efforts to a minimum. Randall Cox, 8068

Border Model really are streamlining the process with their latest 35th-scale Leopard 2 A7V. Pre-painted parts on this are really something else - we look at the features in our preview...Read on... »

The best part of a national convention is not just the stacks of kits and the contest tables, it’s the moment you walk in and realize you are surrounded by your people. We’re back from the 2026 IPMS National Convention and talking through the full comedown: the unpacking, the reorganizing, and the small but important truth that some “solutions” in the model room (looking at you, retail paint racks) just do not work at home.

Then we get into the conversations we recorded on the floor. We sit down with Jay Chadwell of Mojo Model Works to talk 3D design and 3D printing for the stuff nobody else makes, from real space hardware to pop culture subjects that instantly hit the nostalgia button. We also talk with Randy Chisholm about his USS Texas turret project, a scratchbuilding rabbit hole where scarce references, mechanical realism, and clean construction matter as much as paint and weathering.

We also catch up with Keith Zimmerman about building a striking 1/48 B-24 Liberator for a show exclusive release, including what it takes to handle huge decals and tight timelines. And we’re thrilled to talk with Arma Hobby about how modern injection-molded plastic kits get designed, why 1/72 scale is having a moment, and how a company stays grounded in what modelers actually want to build. Finally we close with our show host and sponsor, Brandon Lowe of Squadron

Top it all off with a “what broke our wallets” recap from the vendor room, and you’ve got a convention debrief that feels like sitting at the bench with friends. If you enjoy this, subscribe, share it with a modeling buddy, and leave a review so more scale modelers can find the show.

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The IDF M1045A1 Orev HUMVEE TOW Missle Carrier is next from AFV club in their 35th scale. We look at the feature list & photos of the completed kit from AFV's model makers in our preview...Read on... »

This kit is of a 1/24 scale jeep with what appears to be a 1/4 ton trailer. A friend wants to know if this is a rare kit. I have no idea. Can someone help?

In addition to producing some wonderful model kits of a plethora of subjects, ICM has also added a line of acrylic paints, some of which have been reviewed here in the past. This set contains basic colors, which are good for adding details to nearly any subject, and can be mixed as needed to create any color you can imagine. Modelers who are familiar with water-based acrylic paints will have no issues with using this set.

One of the newer suppliers for the IPMS-USA Review Corps is DXM Decals, the DXM stands for Double Excellent Models. While as the name implies, the company specializes in decals, they also produce detail parts and paint masks for airbrushing aircraft. The company produces their products for 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 scale aircraft. The decals are printed by Cartograf, who is known for their quality work. Any modeler that has applied water-slide decals will have no issues with using this set.

Dynamo Models has a BIG new set of eleven (11!) figures of German soldiers taking a break. We look at the set & individual figures in our preview...Read on... »

HI ! Here another project I have done in the past , it,s an scratch one of course..If tyou like to view more pics, Just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KjaGc9nGf5YydvaC7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

HI ! Here another project I have doe in the past using the TAMIYA kit, if you like to view more pics, Just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/myfdKrxsiPNoRocp8 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , it,s scratchbuilt of course.. If you like to view more pics, Just follow thsis GOOGLE link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cB9cSpJXqRVBsxAT7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

This week Paul and Brian were joined by Mason (Vehicle_for_butter) and George (Oldshcoolgunpla) from the IPMS Patriot Chapter to chat about the upcoming PatCon event in Massachusetts at the end of September. While together they also waxed philosophical about progression in the hobby!

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Hosts:

• Julio: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Clippinubs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Brian: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Bro_Builder⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Pabz: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Chris_Pabz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Kyle: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Clueless_Gunpla_Builder⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Z:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @The_Old_Ronin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Paul: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@GunplaPaul⁠⁠⁠