Model World LIVE Returns to NEC Birmingham April 25-26 With 180 Stands

Hall 9 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham B40 1NT, opens its doors to model railways, scale modelling, and radio control on April 25 and 26 as Key Publishing brings back Model World LIVE for its third consecutive year. The 2026 edition confirms over 190 stands across the two-day show, with Saturday running 10am to 5pm and Sunday wrapping at 4pm. Advance ticket holders gain entry from 9:30am each day, a full 30 minutes ahead of the general doors.

The advance ticket deadline is April 23 at 5pm, exclusively through Key Publishing's shop. Saturday adult tickets are priced at £20, with children under 16 at £10. Sunday offers a sharper deal for families: under-16s enter free when accompanied by a paying adult, with a maximum of two children per adult. A new Weekend Ticket, introduced for 2026, covers both days at £40 and includes a £10 gift voucher redeemable on the Key Model World stand at the show itself. VIP tickets return at held-over 2025 prices. A Trains4U bundle combines general admission with a pre-order, giving attendees a structured way to commit to upcoming releases before stepping through the doors.

The centrepiece layout this year is Pete Waterman's Making Tracks recreation of Milton Keynes and Watford Junction, running at 136 feet in OO gauge along a section of the West Coast Main Line. Waterman has confirmed this will be the last layout from the Making Tracks team exceeding 100 feet for the foreseeable future, making the NEC weekend its only scheduled outing at that scale.

The RCDrift 2026 championship finals are staged within the show, running across dedicated arenas. Sponsors for 2026 include Bachmann, Pocketbond, Model Collect Create, Hornby Magazine, and Airfix Model World. Bachmann Rail Brand Manager Richard Proudman is among the named manufacturer representatives confirmed for the weekend, and RC Drift International event organiser Josh Parrett is overseeing the radio control programme.

Key Publishing has been releasing a series of preview videos throughout early April, with Mike Wild and Mark Chivers walking through the show floor plan and upcoming features. Those videos have already flagged manufacturer stands where attendees can assess new tooling ahead of broader retail release, making the NEC weekend an early preview window for select 2026 runs.

With just over two weeks to the April 23 advance ticket deadline, the pricing gap between booking now and paying at the door makes the timetable worth acting on immediately.