Armor Modeling and Preservation Society - History and Purpose

History and Purpose

Clubs centered around the hobby of modeling have existed since the 1950s. The Armor Modeling and Preservation Society, Inc. was founded in 1993 by armor modelers as a means of promoting the hobby using the 'open system' of contest judging.

AMPS was formed as a membership club to promote the hobby of armor modeling, with bylaws that prevented any officer from deriving their income from the hobby of military vehicle modeling. The club operated without incorporation until early 2007, when it was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in the state of New York. In 2011 AMPS gained recognition from the US federal government as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization.

AMPS has several purposes:

• The first is a social function, providing a means for those interested in the hobby of model military vehicle building (including model figure building as well as diorama building) and restoration to associate with other hobbyists.
• A second is educational; AMPS events and publications provide detailed historical information on actual armored fighting vehicles, ordnance, and the history of their usage, as well as providing techniques for improving scale models, figures and dioramas.
• Finally, AMPS provides some funding for restoration of actual military vehicles and makes charitable contributions to morale-building efforts for service members serving in combat areas (see below).