August 5-8, 2026
Grand Wayne Convention Center
120 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802
Welcome to Fort Wayne and the 2026 IPMS/USA National Convention
On behalf of the International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA, it is a distinct honor and genuine pleasure to welcome you to the 2026 National Convention to be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 5-8.
Whether you are a first-time attendee, a rising young modeler, or a long-time champion of our craft, we thank you for joining us in this remarkable gathering; a celebration of the ingenuity, camaraderie, and passion that define our modeling community.
We are a team of eleven IPMS/USA Region 4 Chapters dedicated to give you the best convention experience we possibly can.
The three rings of the circus -- the National Contest, our esteemed vendors, and the raffle -- will all be in place along with other side shows such as the Tiger Meet, family make and take, tours, and seminars to sharpen your skills and learn more about our craft.
As a group, we wrestled with the five Theme Awards for the convention. The first is Happy Birthday America - The American Revolution (the U.S. semi-quincentennial is only one month prior to the convention). The others are Gundam RX-78 - Back to the Beginning, Truck Town USA – International Harvester, the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek, and the 110th Anniversary of the Battle of Jutland. I will explain each of these awards in greater detail and provide our thoughts as to why we chose these five in subsequent posts.
We will be posting frequently here and on the Convention Facebook page to give you all the information you need in a timely manner, and to answer questions you might have.
We’d also like to be kept abreast of what it is you are planning to bring to the convention, be it for the contest or for the Tiger Meet (display only, more on that later). Show us your work and share updates on your builds with us.
We are very excited to have been chosen to host you in Fort Wayne. I will be posting opportunities for family outings, short trips, and items of interest for modelers and their families. There is so much that we want to share with you, so check back often.
Gracias amigos…
John Figueroa
IPMS/USA
2026 National Convention Chairperson
News and Announcements
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Getting ready for the 2026 National Contest, or just looking for inspiration for your entry? The categories and rules are posted and ready to guide you.
The contest will be broken into 208 categories, though some may be split based on the number of entries.
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Nora and I would like to tell you about a burger joint with the best onion rings we’ve found in Fort Wayne, Don Hall’s Hollywood Drive-In, located at 4416 Lima Road (on the corner of Lima Road and Coliseum Blvd.), a short ten-minute, three-and-a-half-mile drive from the convention center.
Nora and I are onion ring fanatics. Sometimes we go to Don Hall’s Hollywood Drive-In and get a basket of onion rings and a diet Pepsi, and that’s all we eat.
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We'd like to acquaint you with the Firefighter’s Museum in downtown Fort Wayne, located at 226 W. Washington Blvd., directly across the street from the convention center.
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It is our distinct pleasure to announce that we have secured a 50-seat block of tickets for the Fort Wayne TinCaps vs. the West Michigan Whitecaps (Grand Rapids) game on Friday, August 7, 2026. It will be Star Wars night at Parkview Field and there will be post-game fireworks for the entire family to enjoy.
Tickets are field level seats in Section 112. Each ticket is $14.00 (regular price is $17.00).
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There is one eatery, above all others, in downtown that we would be greatly remiss if we did not tell you about: Fort Wayne’s Famous Coney Island Wiener Stand, an Iconic hot dog stand with more than a century of flavor, located at 131 West Main Street, a short three-block, five-minute walk from the convention center.
