Gaston County Model Builders was founded in 1989 by 5 model builders who wished to see the hobby expanded in our area. We wished to establish a place where builders could meet, share their skills, learn new things, and in general just have fun. We adopted the motto "Land, Air, Sea, and Space. We build it all!!" This was to reflect our idea that we would not be a specialty model club but that builders of all types could find a place. We became apart of "IPMS" International Plastic Modelers Society in 1996. The club had expanded to the point of organizing with officers and had decided to link into a national Organization.

We are currently working with two Museums which are Schiele Museum Of Natural History & Lynn Planetarium and The American Legion Museum. From time to time our group will sponsor Make-N-Takes for the younger people in our community. We will secure simple snap models and sit down with them and teach them how to build them. We are also involved with the "Support Our Troops" effort in which models and supplies are sent to American Forces serving overseas.

We have approximately 25-30 active members in our group and they all have a wide range of talent ranging from scratch built to customs.

The 2nd Monday meeting is what we call T-N-T night which is Tips-N-Techniques. We bring in subjects that we are working on this night to show others what we are doing or maybe to get help on. This is generally a build night were we get together and cut on our model. Our 4th Friday meeting starts at 7:00 pm EST and usually consist of Show-N-Tell which is where a builder will talk about the model that they have finished or is still being worked on. Then we have our business meetings to talk about upcoming events or Club related issues. After that we break for 15 min to sale raffle tickets for donated books, models, decals, and other things that might be placed on the table. We usually have a demo for weathering, painting, rusting, or if a builder just wants to show a new technique. We sometimes have members from other clubs come talk to us about special events at their club or slides of aircrafts or other related items that people use to help with ideas on their modeling.

Best thing I have to tell you about our club is the dues, we don’t have them. Membership in IPMS/USA is not required to attend meetings. The club is funded though the monthly raffle and donations by individuals. We operate as a non-profit group and are here to benefit the builders of our community and our community in general.

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