The Australian Model Expo 2025
The Australian Model Expo (now in it's 42nd year in 2025) was once again held over the King's Birthday long weekend in Victoria, June 7th to 9th. Model Expo brings many of Australia's top modellers into one space to be a part of what is considered by many to be Australia's Premier scale modelling event.
Once again on the Friday, we made the annual trip down the Western Highway to Melbourne to set up our trade tables and enter some models into the competition.
This year, we were set up next to our friends from Hobbies Australia, who came to show off the brands that they import into Australia as a wholesaler.
So, after a busy afternoon setting up, I went back to the motel room and crashed out.
Saturday 9am rolled around and it was time for Model Expo to officially kick off for 2025. It didn't take long for the public to start flowing into the venue, dropping off their entries and coming to grab a bargain from the traders.
The first day proved to be very busy, we ended up selling out of a lot of items by the end of it and the day wrapped up at 5pm. After 5pm, the judging started for which I stayed around to volunteer to help out again.
After pairing up with a couple of new judges to teach them the ropes, we worked out way through a few categories before I pulled the pin at around 9:45pm and headed back to my motel room again to get some much needed rest.
Sunday morning started off with some more judging to finish off what wasn’t completed the night before and then the show opened again to the public at 9:30am. Sunday was a very quiet day in comparison to the Saturday, but we still managed to do quite well with sales.
The results were then put out onto the tables on the Sunday afternoon, and I managed to win a Commended in Gundam/Mecha for my Zaku II, Commended in Animals for my Baryonyx, and, most proudly of all, won Best Aussie Muscle Car for my A9X Torana that features a custom paint scheme using our Colour Shift Extreme Supernova.
Sunday night involved some dinner with some close friends at Taco Bill just down the road from the venue, a yearly tradition we have. The food was great as usual and then I headed back to the motel for one final night.
Monday was much the same as the Sunday. It was quiet at first as many were upstairs at the big Swap and Sell but then as that ended, they all came down and it was busy on and off for the rest of the day until 3pm when we all started to pack up as the awards ceremony was held.
Overall, Model Expo was once again a great success for us, even though crowds were down from previous years. We once more got to meet a heap of new people and also were able to catch up with many of our great friends and fans.
We also managed to catch up with our friends from Kotare Models, Mark and Richard, who were at the show with test shots of their brand new BF-109 K-4 kit that is coming soon. I had an extensive chat with Mark about some secret things, so keep an eye out for further information on that soon!
We hope that are all enjoying those products that you purchased from us and we also trust that you enjoyed Model Expo as a whole and plan on returning next year - I know we will be back again!
So, I will leave you with a selection of some models that caught my eye over the weekend :
To see more photos, check out Sam Dwyer's gallery on his SD Scale Models Facebook page : Model Expo 2025 Gallery
A big thank you must go out to the Model Expo Committee for putting on a fantastic show once again. The effort this team puts in each and every year is phenomenal - they never receive the recognition that they truly deserve.
Until next time, remember, keep on modelling!
- Scott