Celebrating a half-century of building intricate plastic models, the Victoria chapter of the International Plastic Modellers Society (IPMS) is holding its annual 2025 Victoria Model Show, also commemorating 50 years of the chapter.
The show will take place in Esquimalt at the Archie Browning Sports Centre on Saturday, April 12 and will include a contest, model displays, scale model vendors and raffle prizes for veterans of the hobby, and those looking to get started.
"I find that it's a form of escapism. Like a lot of hobbies, if you're painting watercolours or collecting stamps, I think you get sort of immersed in that world while you're doing that" said Phil Chalmers, spokesperson for IPMS Victoria. "If you had a hard day at the office or something like that, it just allows you to forget about what was going on and get into something entirely different."
Using grey or white plastic model kits, hobbyists use glue, paint and other special tools to create scaled models of vehicles, people, buildings and science fiction figures.
"Normally, you could buy a kit that might be comprised of 100 to 200 parts to make [an airplane]. And so, the skill that's being measured is your ability to put that together and then finish it with painting and decals and whatever else," Chalmers said, speaking on how individual models are judged during the competition, which includes dozens of categories from military vehicles and spacecraft to Gundam – a Japanese sci-fi franchise based on giant robots that has become popular among young modellers.
The society was formed in the early to mid-1970s, starting as a military-related modelling club called the Victoria Military Modeller Society before eventually being amalgamated into the International Plastic Modellers Society.
There will be an award for the model that best represents the theme of the event: "50 plus Years of IPMS in Victoria," which Chalmers admits is vague, but it provides modellers a good opportunity to showcase their creativity.
Doors open at 9 a.m. for the show, with judging starting at 1 p.m. and the trophy presentation at 3:30 p.m. Spectators can be admitted by donation and kids under 12 can enter for free.
For more information, visit www.ipmsvictoria.ca.
