Hobby Model Expo 2025 in Milan: the Rail, Naval and Air model event

Just a couple of days after our MRC participated in the Sarpsborg Culture Festival,  some of the members went on tour again. Each year members of our Model Railway Club visit a Model Railway Exhibition somewhere in Europe. We try to go to different ones, but sometimes we visits the same shows with some years between. The planning of our 'the next' excursion usually starts immediately after the previous one, and we try to find new shows we haven't visited before. This year we certainly found 'something new' as we decided to go to Milan, Italy, to visit the Model Hobby Show there; Hobby Model Expo 2025, which is announced as Model -Rail, -Naval and -Air show.

This was the hall of the traders covering all aspects of modelling, not only model railways. I was surprised by the number of stands trading in all different diicast cars in several scales:

This hall was dedicated to model railway layouts in a lot of different scales and sizes. There were many really large modular layouts:

And there were 2 smaller halls to cover all sorts of military modelling in all scales, dioramas, wargaming and radio controlled models. Here are some impressions. Naval modelling first, as I have an interest of that these days:

A 1/200 scale of USS Missouri, at September 2nd 1945 at the 'Japanese surrender':

This midget submarine was not only built to a high standard, but was also built to be radio controlled:

Not all the naval models was of the too serious kind or built by a prototype:

Some 'action dioramas':

This diorama was based on a real incident

There were several really 'large scale' figures, but this was one of my favorite favourites:

1:6 scale figures and RC vehicles:

There were also 1:12 scale radio controlled tanks fighting by shooting IR at each other. A kind of wargaming?

Some of the figure collections:

I'm quite not sure which 'Army' this is. Perhaps it is 'The Army of Love'?

There were several stalls selling miniatures for fantasy wargaming:

-And more traditional plastic toy soldiers:

54mm

1:72

...and kits:

In the diorama section there were also a lot of different dioramas, but I found one of the exhibitors making 'What-if' dioramas very interesting:

From the movie 'Fatherland'

What-if Operation Sealion actually had happened 

Imperial Japanese Infantry at the 'American front'

The greatest 'What-if ' diorama of all. For most.

This small H0 model railway layout by Märklin was one of my favorites. I really like small layouts and this one shows what can be achieved in a small space with out looking 'overloaded':

A couple of reminders that's less than 3 months to Christmas:

This Italian 3D-printed Station kit in N-cale (1:160), we actually passed when we were visiting Florence described closer in the latter parts of this blogpost. Even the train was coincidentally the same:

Tram/streetcar layouts in H0 (1:87):

As already mentioned, I'm a big fan of small and simple layouts. These 2 N-scale layouts really captured the 'essence of Italy':

A simple H0e (1:87 on 9mm gauge) layout:

This Italian N-scale layout was built to a very high standard and really impressed me. The operators were really friendly too:

This is the interior of the Church on the very same N-scale layout. Notice the candles (!)

These images are from a modular G-scale layout:

"Lego" trains built after Italian prototypes:

The prototype of this diorama is in the photo behind it:

Some more G-scale images from another modular layout. I have this railbus in H0e scale:

A very successful kitbashing of 2 Stainz', which is LGBs most common and iconic model, into a Fairlie locomotive:

Some more Italian layouts:

Airfix 1:72 scale Italians used as an Italian memorial in 1:87 scale

This incredible Go-Cart track was made to N-scale (1:160), and the Carts were really tiny:

A German 0 gauge layout:

This Frontier Fort was made to H0 (1:87) scale, but there was no trains on 'the layout'. It was very well detailed considered the scale:

There were also areas for RC constructors...

...and a basin for RC sailors:

In the nearby park there was also a miniature railway in 2 different gauges: 

This exhibition was surprisingly large, and an Army marches on it's stomach:

So, did I buy anything at this exhibition?
Well, I found these Strelets sets I've been looking for for a while, but hasn't ordered online due to high shipping rates to Norway. These were only about € 11.50. I do not plan to use them for wargaming, but how I'll use them will perhaps be a future blogpost:

I also bought a couple of really cheap G-scale Gondolas for only € 30, which are cheaper than a single similar H0 model in Norway. What I'll use them for will be posted in a future blogpost:

The diecast bi-plane is 1:100 scale, and will look good next to a 1:87 scale figure, as 1:72 scale planes looks way too big in this scale. The motorcycles was a bonus:

HZERO Miniature Train Museum 

As we already were in Milan, we were only some 2 hours away from Florence by train. So we decided to go to Florence as well to visit the one of Europe's largest Model Railways; HZERO Miniature Train Museum. The layout is located in an old movie theatre and the entrance is indistinctive. The layout itself is not built as a plain Italian layout but to a German/Swiss/Austrian/Italian-ish mix. -But to a high standard though.

An overall look from the view of the 'balcony':

Here follow some impressions of the layout:

I really like small cameos on the layouts. It looks like it is a 'dads job' to steer the car. I wonder if he was responsible to fill fuel as well?

It looks like this rider is not going to have a 'good day':

Even i this was a very large layout, it was not much military presence on it. I fond these... 

...on their way to an American War Cemetery: 

Here are some short videos from the layout:

The museum shop was located in the old foyer:

-But didn't actually have much trains to offer. And none with HZERO logo:

But their café was a really nice one:

I hope you followed this blogpost until the end. Thanks for reading!