Hello and thanks for dropping by ! - below is a short summary about who we are and what we do.
History
IPMS has many interests represented amongst its membership – and it was recognised early on that some of those are quite specific so ‘Special Interest Groups’ began to form. SIGs are distinct from Branches (which draw their membership from a local area and meet regularly) as their members are spread across the whole of IPMS, both in the UK and around the world, and only meet at the shows they exhibit at (and of course electronically, more than ever at present, see below)
SIGs generally concentrate on one theme – ‘Estonian Tractors 1917 - 1920’ for example, and many have become centres of knowledge and excellence in their particular subject. SIG144 is unique in that the ONLY constraint is scale, consequently we have become many SIGs within a SIG, counting amongst our number specialists in almost any subject you can think of – as long as it’s in 1/144th!*
In its present form SIG144 was founded by David Hart and Terry Patrick in 2007.
We normally exhibit at many shows through the year as well as SMW.
Rules ?
Hmmm…..hardly any really……. Membership of SIG144 is free (please note there is a small cost to join the forum) but you do have to be a paid-up IPMS member (so we need your number for the returns) other than that if you would like to exhibit models we ask only that it’s your own work** and that we know you are coming as we always have more models than space. All are welcome of course (we are a gregarious bunch and enjoy talking to visitors) but we would ask anyone exhibiting to share the load and spend some time on the stand.
Aims
Mostly to enjoy what we do (it is a hobby!) and also to continue the missionary work promoting 1/144 with manufacturers, retailers and magazine publishers, which of course benefits us directly. We have a good relationship with all of the above and we have been able to regularly secure ‘member only’ discounts and promotional offers which makes SIG membership useful as well as fun ! As we use considerably less plastic than other scales we are doing our bit for the planet too!
Comms
You can contact us free by email : THE144SIG@aol.com. We don’t have a website or Facebook group – but we now also have this forum for the exclusive use of our members. Please note we have to pay for the domain etc. so there is a (very) small charge to join the forum.
Legal stuff
We only hold your email for use within the group so that we can circulate news etc. Any other information (IPMS No., postal address etc) is not shared without your permission. We also have a risk assessment for shows in place, copies are available !
We'd love to have you on board - just go to our 'joining the SIG' page
Mike
* aircraft, armour, ships, sci-fi, figures, ‘what if’, or whatever – it’s your call!
** this DOES NOT exclude originally factory-painted ‘Gashapons’ or rescued models provided that they have been properly assembled / improved on/ converted, and / or re-painted to some degree.