By Harald Christ and Alex Thomas

On the 13th,14th and 15th of July, the Model Car Club of Australia's NNL was held in Burwood, Melbourne. After much asking around and backtracking, we finally found the World Vision Centre and the models within. Certain Melbourne laws mean that no signs are allowed out on the roads to show anyone where the place is, which is a real hassle if you're an interstater!

Upon entering, a $3.00 admission charge was paid to the most cheeriest of desk staff, who chatted to us about last year's show, the trader stalls and the People's Choice slips. First up were the club displays, which had other models such as aircraft and armour on show. On Saturday there were only two clubs represented, more may have been set up later but we had limited time and couldn't return on Sunday. A big area set aside for the juniors was next, which included colouring pictures of Nascars for display and hands-on model building sessions with the Snap-Tite, pre-painted Revell Nascar kits, which the kids could take home when finished.

A good assortment of cars were present in the main room, ranging from Factory Stock muscle cars through to European exotics and the like. A table for unfinished/primer models was also set up and included some LARGE scale hot rods and an interesting Ford Cortina Mk1 drag car. The more serious models had reference folders, which included progressive build up photos and diagrams. There were several cars painted in the new "chameleon" paint (you know, the one that's blue, green, purple and black all on one car!), which is also popping up in the 1:1 scale world of motoring.

The quality of models were in line with our show (the SAPMA Model Expo) ranging from top quality cars through to the average builders model. The creativity level was high, especially a Porsche 356 with huge wheels and 959 running gear or a Pro-Street Volvo Estate.

There were trophies given out in all classes such as Competition, Stock, Hot Rod, Pro Street, Custom, Modified Die Cast, Junior etc as well as Trucks and Motorbikes. Overall, the size of the show was a bit disappointing in terms of model numbers and trader stalls. The venue itself felt like an office building in that it was too separated and disjointed. I think this sort of show would have been better suited to a large hall. However we had a good time there and enjoyed the models and the people there which is, of course,  the main thing anyway.

Earlier in the year we also visited the Australian Model Championships at the Melbourne Showgrounds. The calibre of models there was also quite high (more show quality models) but still comparable to Adelaide. Strangely, all the models were contained in glass display cabinets, which proved to be a bit distracting and somewhat removed you visually from the experience.

Again the number of entries was lower than we expected, considering that it was a national event. A highlight for us were the military dioramas which showed excellent realism and some interesting topics. The trader numbers were up on the NNL, including some informative resin casting demonstrations. We snapped up a few bargains here probably because we were among the first twenty people through the doors!

Looking at both events, we think that Adelaide has a lot to be proud of, both for quality and quantity of models, and that SAPMA does a top job of organising a Model Expo of national standard.

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