Hello, I am José Rivera, resident of Puerto Rico and an avid modeler since 1964. I was born in New York, and moved and have been in Puerto Rico since 1960. Presently I work with the Department of Homeland Security in Puerto Rico. I have been a member of IPMS for many years, and in 2003 I founded the PR-IPMS charter. Since then I have presided the charter, and functioned as vice-president, webmaster and most recently as liaison officer. Having founded the PR IPMS charter was a defining moment in my modeling career and with great joy I belong and actively participate in all IPMS related events.

     I started my modeling passion in 1964 when I built my first model, a model of the Cutty-Sark sailing ship. Few years later I oriented my modeling to automobiles, where I found my niche. Throughout these years I have developed a passion for my favorites: dragsters, Ferrari’s and Porsche’s. To this day I have built 6227 models, most of them I have in storage in their own boxes to protect them, and of course, for the lack of display space, (a problem that haunts all modelers!). 

     Between 1980 and 1990 I competed at NNL shows and contest around the states, taking home some prizes. Since then, I have coordinated different modeling events around the island, where I have acquired my judging experience. Additional events I have been involved with are the PR IPMS shows and competitions. 

     For years my passion for building closed wheel racing car models, dragsters, Ferrari’s and Porsche’s led me to the ultimate level of modeling--scratch building and super detailing. By honing these skills I shaped myself into a great modeler, which in time led me to attend the IPMS Nationals for the first time. In 2005 I attended the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta, GA, where I was awarded several first places, best out of box, and several second places with my car models. That event marked a milestone in my modeling career. Last year we attended the IPMS Nationals 2006 in Kansas City, MO, and again I was graced with several first places and second places with my car models. Having obtained such prestigious awards gives me great satisfaction and great honor in being part of the grand family of IPMS.

     Lastly, my association with diverse modelers, especially those whose passion is the military modeling, has led me to diversify a little bit and expand my realm of modeling. In time I have ended up building military aircraft, ships, armor and some figures. These where challenges ahead of me which I tackled with great success. Likewise, those military modelers I did also challenged and are now diversifying into building model cars. This is the beauty of IPMS, where we get together as brothers and share, learn, and challenge each other to do better every time.

     With that said, I humbly present to you some of the models in my extensive collection for your viewing joy.

Thanks to you all, and God Bless.