+Andy Hudson 27 years before retirement Andy I beat you I only got 25 years lol.

Have you started yet ? If so hows it going

+InterCity24 As long as you clean the tops of the rails back to bare metal it works ok. If you leave the tops painted then the power won't get through.

+Bruce Randell Most stuff on the track needs the weathering which is why I airbrush later on. There can be problems if you're careless with the airbrush on finished scenery. With care the airbrush is an extremley precise tool so can be used quite happily after all the scenery is finished.

+Graham Foulston Hi Graham, I'm not sure about the paints that Richard uses but I suspect they are enamels if they smell as he says in the video, but that's beside the point, as a modeler I often use an airbrush on vehicles and although I use acrylics I suspect the principal is the same, most paints usually have to be thinned to some degree otherwise they won't flow through the airbrush, I've found it a bit trial and error, but the usual description is the consistency of milk. Some manufacturers produce ranges made for airbrushing straight from the container but even these in my experience can need adjusting some times. These are just my comments and I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes by answering this.

+Graham Foulston Hi Graham. I thin my paint for airbrushing with 50% thinner to 50% paint. Depending on the application I may thin it or thicken it further as I go along.

Thanks Richard, much appreciated. .............Graham

EverardJunction hi Richard what air compressor are you using and where did you buy it form. I don't what one to get Thanks

The paint is rubbed off the surface of the rails with a track rubber once it's dried.

A track rubber, so your trains don't get train herpes :-p

+Jim Taylor Yes

For weathering, buildings and scenery acrylic is great and I use it quite a bit. The enamel has a better finish so I use that on the track and rolling stock.

Its a three way point mate.

I prefer the quality of finish with enamel so use it for repainting and weathering. For general scenery I use acrylic paints.

EverardJunction Thanks , I must say I really enjoy your videos, they take all the mystery away and are really helpful.

funny I was thinking the same thing....

+Slim Charles Explains all the SD1 videos and stuff.

+hovermotion Auto electrician covering both angles there Jim.

+hovermotion i was thinking the same jim . . saying that i did think you were a shop/high ending painter /restorer.

Yes I am a restorer...

Try using the peco track rubber. I've found that it's a lot more durable than the Hornby one and can often last for over a year.

I'll give it a try.

I'm a vehicle restorer at a classic car restoration company.

+The420Earthling Depends on what you want to do and what skills you have. You're main options are going to be G, O, Ho, N, and Z scales. G is for garden railways. Large and meant for the outdoors. Not probably what you mean. I've seen O scale used in a lot of ways. Usually I see it used as a 'tin plate' railway. That's not to say it's not used in 'realistic' models or smaller outdoor scenes. Ho is the 'go to' scale. Many consider it the perfect balance between detail and size. It's large enough that even people with unsteady hands and poor eyesight and still be detailed, while small enough to allow for large scenes in small spaces. In the U.S. (and I assume all of NA) it's the most catered to scale, giving you the most options. The other very popular scale is N scale. It's smaller than Ho in size. It has a ton of options. Personally, this is my favorite scale. I'll explain why below. The final common scale to see is Z scale. It's the smallest anyone can reasonably expect to use and not just have a novelty toy. I mean it's really tiny. If you have bad eyesight or are a bit shaky, it'll be a b*tch to work with. Also options are limited and expensive. Picking the scale for you depends on a few factors. What do you want to do with your layout? (ex. expansive Midwestern scenes, industrial scenes of the Great Lakes, etc.) Do you have any experience with an applicable art (ex. painting), trade (ex. electrician), etc.? How much space do you have? If you want to do something like in the video, your options are Ho or N scale. The main reason (imo) to pick N over Ho is if you want to do large scenes like the Rocky Mountain ranges or something like that. You can fit a lot more into a space with N scale. The other reason is if you don't have much room in you're place for a layout. You _can_ fit an Ho layout in a 4x8ft space, but you can do a lot more with N scale. If you don't want massive scenes or aren't too limited on space, just go with Ho. You have a bit more variety in the options, cost is a bit better, more people can give you advice on it, and it's a bit easier to work with. I personally like N because I like long expanses of scenes. I just love watching trains snake around hillsides. If I was more into 'switching' and playing around with the trains, I would probably do Ho and make an industrial scene. tl;dr Go with N scale if you want large scenes or don't have much space. If those are not a problem, or you have no clue what you want, go with a decent Ho starter kit. If you want to just jump right in, there are starter sets that have an engine, some rolling stock, and a loop of track ready to plug in and play. This seems like a decent one (Ho) ~200USD ~250Cad www.amazon.com/Bachmann-Industries-Valley-Electric-Locomotive/dp/B00BFCXJ2S/ref=sr_1_20?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1463590196&sr=1-20&keywords=Ho+set This one if you want N scale ~215 USD ~280Cad www.amazon.com/Kato-USA-Model-Train-Products/dp/B005NMH1TI/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1463590574&sr=1-1&keywords=N+scale+starter Personally I recommend finding a club nearby. Most clubs are pretty chill about newbies coming in and asking questions*. Find some layouts and see what you like. THEN jump in. *From personal experience, if you're under the age of 18, some clubs will be fine with you, others will hate you. It doesn't matter how respectful you are, some clubs just don't want anything to do with kids.

Hapie Star 1st i'd like to say a big ''THANK YOU'' for this response, very nice and informative. ''I personally like N because I like long expanses of scenes. I just love watching trains snake around hillsides. If I was more into 'switching' and playing around with the trains, I would probably do Ho and make an industrial scene.'' This is exactely the kind of comments i was looking for. I really don't know what i want. Well, actualy, i do and it's a bit of every thing. I have zero experience with painting (except painting my appartement when i move lol) but looking at videos on weathering i think that if i have the right equipement i could do some of the stuff i've seen, making a model from scratch could be a challenge but i think u couls manage if i have the right tools and good advices like i've seen in some videos, i'm really bad with electricity, i just dont understand it, but actualy never tried, i'm pretty good at following plans or instruction that are well explain for newbies lol. I'm 42 y.o. so no problem with the age (i wouldn't think so anyway...) . After your comment with the N scale, i think this is what i prefer because of the use i would do of it. Scenes are more my thing than ''switching'', but the size of HO is more interesting for a beginner because (i guess) being bigger there are more space for ''error'' type thing. I don't have space right now, but i'm not worried about that, i don't mind buying some stuff before a have the space so when i do have the space, i'll have a good part of the material already, things like the bottles of gravel, tracks, tools i need, etc etc, things i can store in a closet in the mean time. And i will look for a club around where i live, living in Montreal i know there are some. Again a big thanks for replying ;)

The420Earthling I suggest just starting with N-scale if it's what you're interested in. From the guys that I've talked to who switched scales, it's a bit annoying having bought stuff for one scale and then have to rebuy stuff for another. The electrical stuff is pretty simple if you don't want all the bells and whistles. How complicated the electricals get depends entirely on what details you want. A simple oval with a turnout, very easy and fool proof. A full size switching yard with automatic signals? You're going to want to talk to a few experience people first. Good luck on everything. Final advice; don't get caught up on the small stuff. I had this problem as I'm a perfectionist. I was obsessed on finding the 'right' way to do things before I started. In reality, it's sometimes best to just *do* and learn from mistakes. Especially so with scenery which is more like art.

Hapie Star That might be my problem, i'm a perfectionist too, i like to plan every thing ahead. But i thing i'll do some practice before starting on the real thing, like painting a few wagon and maybe working on a 1m x 1m platform and building scenery and thing like that, just to see how i am with this.

The420Earthling I can definitely vouch for practicing on small stuff before going right to a full layout. I was dreadful when I started. I had few applicable skills besides the odd DIY job. Keep at it and it'll look like you shrunk google maps lol!